centering a button in 2 grids using GridBagLayout (Java Swing) - java

I am curious if it possible to center a JButton in two X grids of a GridBagLayout? I've done some searching through the API but haven't found much. I have also drawn up a small picture to clarify what I am trying to do.
Thank you!
Example Image:

I've done some searching through the API but haven't found much.
Read the section from the Swing tutorial on How to Use GridBagLayout.
You would need to concentrate on the Specifying Constraints section:
the gridwidth constraint will allow the button to span multiple columns
the anchor constraint will allow the button to be centered within the two columns.
the fill constraint will need to be turned off.
The above assumes that you actually have other components on the panel in each of the columns. You can't just randomly say a single component takes up two columns.
So start with the demo code in the tutorial an modify it to have the button on the bottom centered.

Related

How to overlap panels in Java Swing?

I have a screen in my application. The layout of the screen is shown in the attached image file.
I have to add upto 5 labels in Panel1111. But, When I try to add labels in Panel1111, the Panel11 resizes and Panel12 shifts downwards to give space to Panel11.
I want to overlap content of Panel1111 on Panel12.
How can I achieve it?
Layout details:
Panel1 : BorderLayout
Panel11: OverLayLayout
Panel111: GridBagLayout
Using JLayeredPane. Go to Oracle Java website, and go through the tutorial: How to Use Layered Panes
Java's Layout Managers by default try to show all information that is inside them.
If you say you want two panels to overlap, this essentially means that the lower one cannot be seen fully, and also not interacted with in the hidden/overlapped part. Then, this part of the panel doesn't make sense any more. So you should probably rethink your GUI.
If you want it to overlap only at certain times, and the user can define when it should overlap and when not, then you'll need to handle that manually by using no Layout Manager at all, but position the elements yourself. Oracle provides some hints how to do that: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/layout/none.html.
In the end, you might end up writing your own, custom Layout Manager to handle the resizing of the panels.
Note: only the the layout of Panel 1 must be manually managed. The other panels can likely be handled by a LayoutManager again.

unable to resize components in java windowbuilder

I'm designing GUI using java swing with the help of windowbuilder. I found that in any layout it's not possible to resize components by using mouse drags (even though it shows points to pick and drag to resize). Specifically reducing size is what most important to do.
Resizing is allowed only in two layouts: one in Absolute Layout (which is not at all good for practical purpose, considering different screen-sizes with which GUI should be better displayed) and another is Group Layout (which is also not a good for design due to it's complex code).
Following is the sample where I have placed two JLabels and now trying to add JComboBox at the location indicated by Green box.
But when I place the JComboBox it's default size is to fill horizontally. Even if I change fill to 'None' and try to resize, I'm unable to resize it. Following is the result after addition of JComboBox:
In the Background there is JPanel with GridBagLayout with following properties:
I found that changing values in columnWidths and rowHeights properties of GridBagLayout, the size of grid columns/rows can be controlled. But I'm unable to understand Size of which columns/rows all those values represents?. (I found no direct relation between number of those values and number of columns/rows displayed on Panel)
Is there any way out to resize components? And can anybody explain what those values in columnWidths and rowHeights properties of GridBagLayout represent?
It's simple, you need to add grow in you WindowBuilder. It looks like this:
picture
Click on this with your right mouse button and click on 'grow':
picture
Only objects with 'grow' are resizable.

Best Layout Manager for creating two columns in a single panel?

I am trying to create a GUI for a program with an undefined number of rows but stay with two columns. Currently the only way I can get it to look how I want is using FlowLayout but the window of course needs to be smaller than desired. It needs to happen within one panel as well because it is being added to a tabbed pane.
What would be the best layout manager to solve the problem that is in the JDK? Or would just kind of brute forcing it with AbsoluteLayout be the best approach (as the user shouldn't really be resizing the window)?
I have attached the desired appearance.
Thanks for any help in advance.
Several layouts can do what you want. I'd suggest GridLayout (easy to use, but columns will be equal width) or GridBagLayout (harder to use, but you have lots of control). You could also use a BorderLayout and put all the fields in a sub-panel on the WEST and all the drop-downs in a sub-panel on the EAST. The difficulty with that is ensuring that the rows have the same height, since they won't be constrained by the layout itself.
The best thing to do would be to go through the Java tutorial on layouts and get up to speed on what the various layout managers can do.
Also, since you're using Swing, you could just use a JTable (as Gilbert Le Blanc suggests in his comment).

I don't know how to lay out a screen in Java

I am creating a game using java, and I'm not quite understanding how to lay out buttons in windows.
I wants seven columns of buttons, 10 high. Each button showing a single digit number, or grayed out. jbutton buttons[] 0-70
To the right, three squares that can show a red X (strikes) that remain visable while empty. I also need a 'Go' button and a 'Clear' button. I was thinking about the strikes in a horizontal arrangement, but very flexable on final design.
The only things defigned are the jbuttons that will hold the numbers, the rest can be built upon any advice received here.
I'm not just looking for an answer, I want to understand how it came to be. PLEASE OVERexplain how.
The Java tutorials have a very thorough chapter on layout managers. Read through it. ANd keep in mind: layout managers are meant to be combined.
For your 7x10 buttons, you definitely want to use a GridLayout. For the overall layout, you could use a BorderLayout with the grid taking up its center spaces, and the other control could go in its other spaces.
I assume you're using Swing, in which case take a look at this GridBagLayout tutorial.
Use Layout Managers. Make multiple JPanels and set an appropriate manager for each. Sounds like you need a GridLayout.

Swing layout - Using a grid while keeping component dimensions

I'd like to make a login bar for an application and I can't figure out how to organize a series of JLabels and JTextFields such that they are organized in a horizontal grid without these same components being resized to fit each cell. I also want to make sure that the group of components isn't resized below a certain width. How can this be achieved?
Edit: Thanks for the answers everyone. I'll have a look at MigLayout and SpringLayout later. Due to time constraints I'm going to have to make do with Visual Editor and use a null layout. The component placement and dimensions have to be adjusted by hand but at least they stay put. Here's a picture showing what I wanted to do.
bar http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7356/bargw.png
Use MigLayout as your layout manager, it's extremely flexible, and supports what you're asking quite easily. You can set size constraints. If you need any further help, post some example code using Swing and MigLayout which shows what you're trying to do, and then I'll advise you on how to do what you want to achieve.
You probably want some additional cells which 'grow' to fill the remaining space. This can be achieved with column constraints, by inserting 'push' between the columns (specified by [..]) to expand the gap. You don't need any placeholder components in this case. (i.e., [pref!]10px[40px::]push[pref!]10px[40px::])
You have to use different layout. FlowLayout or BoxLayout will work in your case, but I would suggest MigLayout simply because it will cover all your needs and replace all others .
Check out the section from the Swing tutorial on Using Layout Managers.
The SpringLayout has an example that does exaclty this.
The GridBagLayout is more difficult to use but also support row/column type layout.
Finally, you can still use a GridLayout. Just add the text fields to a JPanel first, then the panel will grow but the text field won't.

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