如何使一组图像超出容器div的宽度？

Question

I have a set of images that I would like to be aligned next to one another and extend beyond the width of the container div. The images are added dynamically so the width of each image is unknown. The outer DIV would have a width of something specific ie 790px, and the inner DIV's width should match the width of its contents. How would I go about doing this?

Here's a bit of a quick sketch:

+---------------------------------+
|-+---+------+--+-----+----+------|
| |   |      |  |     |    |      |
| |   |      |  |     |    |      |
| |   |      |  |     |    |      |
| |   |      |  |     |    |      |
|-+---+------+--+-----+----+------|
+---------------------------------+
|<   |||||||||                   >|
+---------------------------------+

Here's the code:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
#sortableContainer {
    width: 790px;
    overflow: scroll;
    height:auto;
}
#sortableScroller {
    width: auto;
}
.sortableItem {
    float: left;
    height: 460px;
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
}
-->
</style>
<div id="sortableContainer">
    <div id="sortableScroller">
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
        <img src='<url>' class='sortableItem' />
    </div>
</div>

Answer 1

If you don't mind getting rid of the float:left property, I tested the following code in Chrome and it seems to match your requirement:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
#sortableContainer {
    width: 590px;
    overflow: scroll;
    height:auto;
}
#sortableScroller {
    width: auto;
white-space:nowrap;
}
.sortableItem {
/*  float:left;*/
    height: 460px;
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
background-color:black;
width:200px;
display:inline-block;
}
-->
</style>
<div id="sortableContainer">
    <div id="sortableScroller">
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
        <div class="sortableItem"></div>
    </div>
</div>

Properties that have no indention is added by me.

I changed the width of the container a little bit to match my screen, and used div{display:inline-block;width:200px;} to simulate the imgs but I think this should work on real images.

Answer 2

I added this code and it seems to work, but is there a better way?

$(window).load( function() {
    var accum_width = 0;
    $('.sortableItem').each(function() {
        accum_width += $(this).width();
    });
    $('#sortableScroller').width(accum_width);
});