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Is there a way to place JButtons with different spaces in the begining at the GridBagLayout?

I'm trying to do something like this:
But I can't leave spaces before the buttons. I have tried to add invisible buttons, but nothing has changed.
for (int i = 0; i < gameSize; i++ ){
c.gridwidth = (i+1)*2;
c.gridx = 0;
c.gridy = 4*i;
JRadioButton temp = new JRadioButton();
temp.setVisible(false);
board.add(temp,c);
for(int j = 0; j < gameSize; j++){
c.gridwidth = 4;
c.gridx = 2+(4*j);
c.gridy = 2+(4*i);
cells[i][j] = new JButton();
cells[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
board.add(cells[i][j],c);
}
}
It's look like [this:
when I made them visible. I didn't get why width of them is still 4 even though I'm assigning it to (i+1)*2.
I'm new to Java and very very new to Java GUI. So, maybe I didn't figure out the most basic thing. Thanks for advices!

I created the following GUI.
In order to do this, I had to use a combination of Swing layouts.
The buttons on each row are created in a JPanel with a GridLayout. The row is created with a row JPanel with a FlowLayout, using a dummy JLabel and the button row JPanel.
The main JPanel uses a GridLayout of (0, 1) to create the staggered effect. The dummy JLabel in each row gets bigger by half the size of the JButtons.
Here's the complete runnable code.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class GridBagLayoutStaggeredGUI implements Runnable {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new GridBagLayoutStaggeredGUI());
}
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Staggered Layout");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(createMainPanel(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
private JPanel createMainPanel() {
int gameSize = 8;
int buttonSize = 50;
int inset = 2;
JButton[][] cells = new JButton[gameSize][gameSize];
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 1));
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
for (int i = 0; i < gameSize; i++) {
JPanel innerPanel = new JPanel(
new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEADING, 0, 0));
JLabel label = new JLabel();
label.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(inset, buttonSize));
innerPanel.add(label);
innerPanel.add(createRowPanel(cells[i], buttonSize));
panel.add(innerPanel);
inset += buttonSize / 2;
}
return panel;
}
private JPanel createRowPanel(JButton[] cells, int buttonSize) {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, cells.length, 0, 0));
for (int i = 0; i < cells.length; i++) {
cells[i] = new JButton();
cells[i].setBackground(Color.white);
cells[i].setPreferredSize(new Dimension(buttonSize, buttonSize));
panel.add(cells[i]);
}
return panel;
}
}

The GridBagLayout can only calculate the width of a column if there is a component added to the column with a "gridwidth" of 1.
In your example you have 6 button each with a "gridwidth" of 2, implying you really want 12 columns. But what should the width of each column be?
The example below shows how to allocate a minimum width for each column. Now each of the 12 columns will have a minimum width based on the value specified.
import java.awt.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
public class GridBagLayoutMRE extends JPanel
{
public GridBagLayoutMRE()
{
int gameSize = 6;
int columnsNeeded = (gameSize * 3);
int cellSize = 30;
Dimension buttonSize = new Dimension(cellSize * 2, cellSize);
GridBagLayout gbl = new GridBagLayout();
setLayout( gbl );
int[] columnWidths = new int[columnsNeeded];
Arrays.fill(columnWidths, cellSize);
gbl.columnWidths = columnWidths;
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
for (int i = 0; i < gameSize; i++)
{
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = i;
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
JRadioButton rb = new JRadioButton();
rb.setPreferredSize( new Dimension(60, cellSize) );
add(rb, gbc);
gbc.gridx = i + 1;
gbc.gridwidth = 2;
for (int j = 0; j < gameSize; j++)
{
JButton button = new JButton();
button.setPreferredSize( buttonSize );
add(button, gbc);
gbc.gridx = gbc.gridx + gbc.gridwidth;
}
}
}
private static void createAndShowGUI()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("GridBagLayoutMRE");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout( new GridBagLayout() );
frame.add(new GridBagLayoutMRE());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform( true );
frame.setVisible( true );
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
{
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater( () -> createAndShowGUI() );
}
}

Panel fills the window in Java swing

I've added two 10x10 grids in a window but I cannot get them to appear in a smaller size. They just fill the entire window. How do I place both of them neatly in the middle in a smaller size so that there's room for some labels and buttons? I've pasted the code below for reference.
public static void main(String[] args) {
window = new JFrame();
window.setTitle("Battleship.exe");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(600, 600));
P1_container = new JPanel(new GridLayout(10,10));
P1_container.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black, 5));
compContainer = new JPanel(new GridLayout(10,10));
compContainer.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black, 5));
grid = new JPanel[10][10];
for (int i =0; i< 10; i++) {
for (int j =0; j< 10; j++) {
grid[i][j] = new JPanel();
grid[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
grid[i][j].setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.blue, 2));
grid[i][j].setPreferredSize(new Dimension(25,25));
P1_container.add(grid[i][j]);
}
}
enemyGrid = new JPanel[10][10];
for (int i =0; i< 10; i++) {
for (int j =0; j< 10; j++) {
enemyGrid[i][j] = new JPanel();
enemyGrid[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
enemyGrid[i][j].setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.red, 2));
enemyGrid[i][j].setPreferredSize(new Dimension(25, 25));
compContainer.add(enemyGrid[i][j]);
}
}
GridLayout layout = new GridLayout(1, 2);
layout.setHgap(150);
mainPanel = new JPanel(layout);
mainPanel.add(P1_container);
mainPanel.add(compContainer);
window.add(mainPanel);
window.pack();
window.setVisible(true);
}

Your code had 24 compile errors. Once I fixed the compile errors, I modified one line and commented out one line to get this GUI.
Here's the complete runnable code.
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class BattleshipGUI {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame window = new JFrame();
window.setTitle("Battleship.exe");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
// window.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(600, 600));
JPanel P1_container = new JPanel(new GridLayout(10,10));
P1_container.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black, 5));
JPanel compContainer = new JPanel(new GridLayout(10,10));
compContainer.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black, 5));
JPanel[][] grid = new JPanel[10][10];
for (int i =0; i< 10; i++) {
for (int j =0; j< 10; j++) {
grid[i][j] = new JPanel();
grid[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
grid[i][j].setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.blue, 2));
grid[i][j].setPreferredSize(new Dimension(25,25));
P1_container.add(grid[i][j]);
}
}
JPanel[][] enemyGrid = new JPanel[10][10];
for (int i =0; i< 10; i++) {
for (int j =0; j< 10; j++) {
enemyGrid[i][j] = new JPanel();
enemyGrid[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
enemyGrid[i][j].setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.red, 2));
enemyGrid[i][j].setPreferredSize(new Dimension(25, 25));
compContainer.add(enemyGrid[i][j]);
}
}
GridLayout layout = new GridLayout(0, 2);
layout.setHgap(150);
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(layout);
mainPanel.add(P1_container);
mainPanel.add(compContainer);
window.add(mainPanel);
window.pack();
window.setVisible(true);
}
}

The key to using Swing layout managers is to nest your containers.
Nest mainPanel into another JPanel, one that uses a layout that helps you achieve your goal, say a BorderLayout with mainPanel placed into the BorderLayout.CENTER position. Then add the other gui components to this same outer JPanel at other BorderLayout locations.
If you don't want the mainPanel to expand, then use a different outer layout that does not expand, such as FlowLayout.

Sudoku Gui Issues

I am required to create a Suduku Game Board that looks like this:
Here are the requirements I need for this assignment, but am having some issues.
Use two for loops to draw the text fields instead of brute-force of listing 81 text fields. You should do something like:
for (int k = 1; k <= 9; k++)
{
JPanel level2 = new JPanel();
….
for (int i = 1; i <= 9; i++)
{
JTextField text = new JTextField();
…
}
gridPanel.add(level2);
}
I need 2 classes in
an application class named TestSudoku and a work class named SudokuLayout.
Implement the following visual gadgets and write listeners for them. These gadgets have the following behaviors:
Button “Reset”---when the button is clicked, the program will clear the text area, then output the string “Reset button clicked!” to the text area.
Button “Hint”---when the button is clicked, the program will clear the text area, then output the string “Hint button clicked!” to the text area.
Combobox “Difficulty”---when an item is selected, the program will clear the text area, then output the selected item name to the text area.
implement the listeners using loosely coupled methods (private listener class or private adapter class).
This is what I currently have..
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.Border;
import java.awt.*;
public class SudokuLayout extends JFrame {
public SudokuLayout() {
JPanel board = new JPanel(new GridLayout(9, 9));
add(board);
JPanel[][] squares = new JPanel[9][9];
Border border = BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK);
for (int row = 1; row < 9; row++) {
for (int col = 1; col < 9; col++) {
squares[row][col] = new JPanel();
board.add(squares[row][col]);
}
}
JPanel menu = new JPanel();
menu.add(new JButton("Reset"));
menu.add(new JButton("Hint"));
menu.add(new JButton("Solve"));
menu.add(new JButton("New Puzzle"));
add(menu);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
/** Create a frame and set its properties*/
JFrame frame = new SudokuLayout();
frame.setTitle("Sudoku");
frame.setSize(600, 600);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null); //Center the frame
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
The problem is that, with my current version, the right menu shows horizontally and I cannot see the grid. Moreover, I don't know how to add the output area.

When facing this kind of frames with Swing you need to divide the frame in sections and treat them separately. I mean, by looking at the image you can easily identify the Sudoku, the menu, and the output. Thus, your answer should try to first create each of them separately and then join them.
Considering this, you must notice:
There are 3 main components: sudoku, menu, and output
The 3 main components may use a BorderLayout since they are probably at WEST, EAST and SOUTH
The sudoku component is a 3x3 grid of 3x3 smaller grids (so you can change the black-border).
The menu component is a 5x1 grid with buttons in each position
The output component is a single text frame
So, you may need to change something to get the exact behaviour (button sizes and margins, options on the difficulty ComboBox) but your solution should look like this:
public class SudokuLayout extends JFrame {
public SudokuLayout() {
// Create panel for Sudoku
JPanel board = new JPanel();
board.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 3));
board.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
for (int row = 0; row < 3; ++row) {
for (int col = 0; col < 3; ++col) {
JPanel box = new JPanel(new GridLayout(3, 3));
box.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
for (int cell = 0; cell < 9; ++cell) {
box.add(new JTextField(2));
}
board.add(box);
}
}
// Create difficulty combo box
JComboBox<String> difficultyChoices = new JComboBox<>(new String[] { "Hard", "Easy" });
difficultyChoices.setSelectedIndex(0);
// Create menu panel
JPanel menu = new JPanel();
menu.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints menuConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
menuConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.WEST;
menuConstraints.weightx = 0.5;
menuConstraints.weighty = 0.5;
menuConstraints.gridwidth = 2;
menuConstraints.gridx = 2;
menuConstraints.gridy = 0;
menu.add(new JButton("Reset"), menuConstraints);
menuConstraints.gridx = 2;
menuConstraints.gridy = 1;
menu.add(new JButton("Hint"), menuConstraints);
menuConstraints.gridx = 2;
menuConstraints.gridy = 2;
menu.add(new JButton("Solve"), menuConstraints);
menuConstraints.gridx = 2;
menuConstraints.gridy = 3;
menu.add(new JButton("New Puzzle"), menuConstraints);
menuConstraints.weighty = 1.0;
menuConstraints.gridx = 2;
menuConstraints.gridy = 4;
menu.add(new JLabel("Difficulty:"), menuConstraints);
menuConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
menuConstraints.weightx = 0.5;
menuConstraints.weighty = 0.5;
menuConstraints.gridwidth = 2;
menuConstraints.gridx = 0;
menuConstraints.gridy = 5;
menu.add(difficultyChoices, menuConstraints);
// Create output panel
JTextArea output = new JTextArea(5, 20);
output.setEditable(false);
output.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLUE), "Output Area"));
// Join the 3 panels on the frame
Container cp = getContentPane();
cp.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
cp.add(board, BorderLayout.WEST);
cp.add(menu, BorderLayout.EAST);
cp.add(output, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Create a frame and set its properties
JFrame frame = new SudokuLayout();
frame.setTitle("TestSudoku");
frame.setSize(600, 600);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null); // Center the frame
// Setup the window
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
UPDATE: I update my answer with a GridBagLayout for the menu and a TextArea with border for the output.

Adding multiple sets of JLabel and JTextBox to the same line in Java

I'm building an equation solver that allows the user to enter a system of equations and then get the answer. So, I need to build a GUI that allows the user to enter the set of equations. I decided to go about doing this from scratch. Here's what my code looks like:
private JFrame frame;
private JTextField[][] text;
private JLabel label;
private JLabel equalLabel;
private JLabel plusLabel;
private JTextField answerText;
private void displayGetEquations(int total)
{
frame = new JFrame("Enter Equations");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
equalLabel = new JLabel();
equalLabel.setText(" = ");
plusLabel = new JLabel();
plusLabel.setText(" + ");
answerText = new JTextField();
answerText.setColumns(2);
frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(0,10));
text = new JTextField[3][3];
for(int i = 0 ; i < 3 ; i++)
{
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
for(int j = 0 ; j < 3 ; j++)
{
text[i][j] = new JTextField();
text[i][j].setColumns(2);
label = new JLabel();
Font font = label.getFont();
Font boldFont = new Font(font.getFontName(), Font.BOLD, font.getSize());
label.setFont(boldFont);
label.setText("x");
panel.add(text[i][j]);
panel.add(label);
panel.add(plusLabel);
}
panel.add(equalLabel);
panel.add(answerText);
frame.add(panel);
frame.revalidate();
frame.repaint();
}
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
This is what I get when I run the above code:
But I am not getting the desired output, which, I would like to be something like this:
This was made using the drag and drop feature of NetBeansWhat am I doing wrong? Is what I want even possible?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks !
(This was made using the drag and drop feature of NetBeans)

Your code is a little bit confusing and the one posted here isn't a MCVE, as it lacks a main method and imports and a variable panel, as well as it's giving me a different output than the one you posted:
From your example-output images I made 2 approaches, one which uses multiple JPanel with a FlowLayout inside another one with BoxLayout and another one which uses a single JPanel with a GridLayout. Another approach could be using GridBagLayout
I used x, y and z variable names because I thought you were using an equation solving program or something like that.
Here's the code that produces the above outputs:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
public class MultipleComponentsInRow {
public static final int ROWS = 3;
public static final int COLS = 4;
private JFrame frame;
private JPanel flowLayoutPanel;
private JPanel gridLayoutPanel;
private JTextField[][] flowFields;
private JTextField[][] gridFields;
private void createAndShowGui() {
frame = new JFrame("Multiple Components In Row");
flowFields = new JTextField[ROWS][COLS];
gridFields = new JTextField[ROWS][COLS];
flowLayoutPanel = new JPanel();
flowLayoutPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(flowLayoutPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
gridLayoutPanel = new JPanel();
gridLayoutPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(ROWS, 7));
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++) {
flowFields[i][j] = new JTextField(2);
gridFields[i][j] = new JTextField(2);
}
}
//FlowLayout approach
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
JPanel pane = new JPanel();
pane.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++) {
pane.add(flowFields[i][j]);
switch (j) {
case 0:
pane.add(new JLabel(" x + "));
break;
case 1:
pane.add(new JLabel(" y + "));
break;
case 2:
pane.add(new JLabel(" z = "));
break;
default:
break;
}
}
flowLayoutPanel.add(pane);
}
//GridLayout approach
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++) {
gridLayoutPanel.add(gridFields[i][j]);
switch (j) {
case 0:
gridLayoutPanel.add(new JLabel(" x + "));
break;
case 1:
gridLayoutPanel.add(new JLabel(" y + "));
break;
case 2:
gridLayoutPanel.add(new JLabel(" z = "));
break;
default:
break;
}
}
}
frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2, 5, 5));
flowLayoutPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK), "Flow Layout"));
gridLayoutPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.RED), "Grid Layout"));
frame.add(flowLayoutPanel);
frame.add(gridLayoutPanel);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new MultipleComponentsInRow().createAndShowGui();
}
}

Think about the theory here. Big picture view: You have a frame with a panel right? Why not have a frame with 3 panels? The frame layout will be a vertical stackpane and the each panel will be a horizontal layout with the 4 textfields. You may want consider using JavaFX where you could do something like:
...
HBox hBox1 = new Hbox();
hBox1.getChildern.addAll(new Textfield(), new Textfield(), new Textfield());
... //repeat 2 more times
Vbox vbox = new VBox(hBox1, hBox2, hBox3);
...
Then you have 3x horizontal layouts contained in 1 vertical layout.

JTable splitting cells. How to

I'm new to Swing and I want to create a table having this form:
So How to split a cell like the table shows?
Have you any useful links or tutorials or an idea?

This looks like a bowling score card to me. Based on that assumption, the number of columns is fixed, and the number of entries tends to be 6 or less. Since you likely won't need scrolling, I would recommend a fixed grid of components instead of a JTable.
This could easily be acheived using GridBagLayout. For the name, I'd use a JTextArea. For the 2 scoring cells for each frame, I'd use JTextFields. For the bottom 2-column-span component that holds the frame's score I'd probably use a JLabel.
Put all of this on a JPanel, and recreate the panel for each bowler.
EDIT:
Here's a quick mock-up just to show the concept. Not necessarily visually pretty, but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class BowlingScoreCard implements Runnable
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new BowlingScoreCard());
}
public void run()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Demo");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(createScorecard(4), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
private JPanel createScorecard(int numPlayers)
{
JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
p.add(new JLabel("Player"), gbc(0, 0, 1, 1));
for (int x = 1; x <= 10; x++)
{
p.add(new JLabel(Integer.toString(x)), gbc(x, 0, 1, 1));
}
for (int y = 1; y <= numPlayers; y++)
{
JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(2, 10);
p.add(textArea, gbc(0, y, 1, 1));
for (int i = 1; i <= 9; i++)
{
p.add(createFrame(2), gbc(i, y, 1, 1));
}
p.add(createFrame(3), gbc(10, y, 1, 1));
}
return p;
}
private JPanel createFrame(int entries)
{
JLabel label = new JLabel(" ");
label.setBackground(Color.GRAY);
JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
p.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.GRAY, 1));
for (int i = 0; i < entries; i++)
{
p.add(new JTextField(3), gbc(i, 0, 1, 1));
}
p.add(label, gbc(0, 1, 2, 1));
return p;
}
private GridBagConstraints gbc(int x, int y, int colspan, int rowspan)
{
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridx = x;
gbc.gridy = y;
gbc.gridwidth = colspan;
gbc.gridheight = rowspan;
gbc.weightx = 0;
gbc.weighty = 0;
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.CENTER;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.NONE;
return gbc;
}
}