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kotlinlang

Is there an easy way to put a divider between `Column`/`Row` elements? Similar to `Arrangement.spacedBy()`, which creates an empty space between elements, would that allow for using other `@Composable` between elements? I have a `Column` whose each child may emit 1 or 0 UI elements, and I want to render a divider between each of them while after the last one, I don’t

At the moment, instead of putting children directly into the column, I put them into a list of `content: List<(@Composable () -> Unit)?>`, filter null values, iterate through them, and have:
```if (index != contentToRender.lastIndex) {
    HorizontalDivider()
}```
It works fine. However, it’s not the API I’m happy with

Yup, if you do not have any `spacedBy` arrangement, I just always do
```Column {
 items.forEachIndexed { index, item ->
  if (index != 0) {
   HorizontalDivider()
  }
  Item(item)
 }
}```
If you got a `spacedBy` arrangement on your column however, or if you do not want that extra 1.dp space the divider takes, you can also do
```val dividerColor = YourTheme.colorScheme.dividerColor
Column(verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(4.dp)) {
 items.forEachIndexed { index, item ->
  Item(
   item,
   Modifier.drawWithContent {
    drawContent()
    if (index != 0) {
     drawLine(dividerColor, Offset.Zero, Offset(size.width, 0f), 1.dp.toPx())
    }
   }
  )
 }
}```
Because otherwise your divider will count as an item and it will add the 4.dp spacing around the divider which you don't want

It definitely makes sense when you have a list of items you want to render, but the problem is when you want to define “optional” composables upfront more or less like this:
```    Column {
        if (text1 != null) {
            Text(text = text1)
        }
        if (text2 != null) {
            Text(text = text2)
        }
        (...)
    }```
`text1` and `text2` come from an external source, and you don’t know if they are available or null. Of course, in this case, the best would be to group them into a list, filter null, iterate through them, etc. But in the actual case I have different types of composables inside the column, so it is not that easy to group them

Yup I get it, I agree with you that this can get tricky. I've had to write extra code around places like this where I got many optional items in some list.
I am not aware of any better API existing around this unfortunately.

Thank you for the confirmation. I was playing around with some custom `Layout` to achieve that, and it seems to be possible, but still it would be greato to have some general API for this purpose

Yeah it's definitely possible with a custom layout, but you'd lose the convenience of just being in a Column and getting all of the things it does for you for free.
I have not found a way to combine the two, still be in a normal Column but provide this custom functionality.
There might be some room to make a custom layout and just delegate to the column measuring etc but then just add the border drawing yourself if those are public API, but I never looked into it.