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Positioning two panels on JFrame [duplicate]

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JAVA positioning labels on JFRAME
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Closed 5 years ago.
I'm trying to get an output like this (designed with Netbeans designer), where I need to actually design it by code:
Where the layout of the JFrame should be like this:
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Horizontal Histogram");
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(400, 300);
frame.setResizable(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new GridLayout(5, 1));
panel.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10));
frame.add(panel);
JPanel panel_2 = new JPanel();
panel_2.setLayout(new GridLayout(5, 1));
panel_2.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10));
frame.add(panel_2);
JLabel label_1 = new JLabel("0-29");
JLabel label_2 = new JLabel("30-39");
JLabel label_3 = new JLabel("40-69");
JLabel label_4 = new JLabel("70-100");
JLabel stats_1 = new JLabel(); //number of stars
JLabel stats_2 = new JLabel();
JLabel stats_3 = new JLabel();
JLabel stats_4 = new JLabel();
stats_1.setText(stars); //starts is a string like ("***")
stats_2.setText(stars);
stats_3.setText(stars);
stats_4.setText(stars);
panel.add(label_1);
panel.add(label_2);
panel.add(label_3);
panel.add(label_4);
My code below only shows the stars, in one entire column. If I remove the second panel and add the 'stats labels' to the first panel it shows a 2 x 4 grid layout like this:
Any ideas on how to get an output like the first image I've posted?

JFrame uses by default BorderLayout.
This: frame.add(panel); adds panel to BorderLayout.CENTER
This: frame.add(panel_2); adds panel_2 to BorderLayout.CENTER
The problem is that BorderLayout.CENTER can hold one component only.
Use:
frame.add(panel, BorderLayout.WEST); and frame.add(panel_2, BorderLayout.EAST);
To get better insight of layouts read A Visual Guide to Layout Managers.

JScrollPane Not Scrolling In JTextArea

There's something that I don't understand. My code does not like JScrollBar apparently. I add it and I cannot scroll horizontally nor vertically.
Here's what it looks like:
Keep in mind that I'm new and I'm still working on it, so I'm sorry if it was something really obvious and easily avoidable.
public ChangeLog() {
//Init.
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
JTextArea textarea = new JTextArea();
JScrollPane scrollpane = new JScrollPane(textarea, JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS, JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
//Text Stuff
textarea.setFont(textarea.getFont().deriveFont(16f));
textarea.setText("Change Log: \n V1.0(A): Original encoder \n V1.0(B): Original decoder \n V1.1: Combination of both encoder and decoder \n V1.2: Added a heavier encoding & decoding system \n V1.3: Added an icon \n V1.4: Created an 'Info' page \n V1.5: Added a 'Change Log' page to the 'Info' page \n "
+ "V1.6: Removed the 'Change Log' \n V1.7: Added a 'Change Log' but was not implemented \n V1.8: Added a the 'Change Log' button \n V1.9: Added horizontal and vertical scroll bars to the 'Change Log'");
textarea.setForeground(Color.BLACK);
Dimension d = new Dimension(250, 275);
textarea.setPreferredSize(d);
//Other Stuff
scrollpane.setViewportView(textarea);
scrollpane.getPreferredSize();
//Layout
panel.setLayout(null);
scrollpane.setBounds(new Rectangle(new Point(20, 20), scrollpane.getPreferredSize()));
textarea.setBounds(new Rectangle(new Point(20, 23), textarea.getPreferredSize()));
//Frame Stuff
frame.setAlwaysOnTop(true);
frame.setSize(300, 350);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(false);
//Panel Stuff
frame.add(panel);
panel.setSize(frame.getSize());
panel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
panel.add(textarea);
panel.add(scrollpane);
} }

I have created a working solution. Made some changes also.
public TestClass() {
//Init.
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JTextArea textarea = new JTextArea();
JScrollPane scrollpane = new JScrollPane(textarea);
panel.add(scrollpane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
//Text Stuff
textarea.setFont(textarea.getFont().deriveFont(16f));
textarea.setText("Change Log: \n V1.0(A): Original encoder \n V1.0(B): Original decoder \n V1.1: Combination of both encoder and decoder \n V1.2: Added a heavier encoding & decoding system \n V1.3: Added an icon \n V1.4: Created an 'Info' page \n V1.5: Added a 'Change Log' page to the 'Info' page \n "
+ "V1.6: Removed the 'Change Log' \n V1.7: Added a 'Change Log' but was not implemented \n V1.8: Added a the 'Change Log' button \n V1.9: Added horizontal and vertical scroll bars to the 'Change Log'");
textarea.setForeground(Color.BLACK);
//Dimension d = new Dimension(250, 275);
//textarea.setPreferredSize(d);
//Other Stuff
scrollpane.setViewportView(textarea);
scrollpane.getPreferredSize();
//Layout
//scrollpane.setBounds(new Rectangle(new Point(20, 20), scrollpane.getPreferredSize()));
//textarea.setBounds(new Rectangle(new Point(20, 23), textarea.getPreferredSize()));
//Listeners
//Frame Stuff
frame.setAlwaysOnTop(true);
frame.setSize(300, 350);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(false);
//Panel Stuff
frame.add(panel);
panel.setSize(frame.getSize());
panel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
panel.add(scrollpane);
}
Also when swing better works with the layout managers and null layout will leads to inconsistent look on different screen types.
Let me know if anything more required. And yes everybody starts from scratch. I am still learning. You will too get many things. Just keep the hunger of learning. :-)

Dimension d = new Dimension(250, 275);
textarea.setPreferredSize(d);
Don't hardcode a size for the text area. The size of the text area will change dynamically as text is added/removed and scrollbars will appear/disappear as required.
JTextArea textarea = new JTextArea();
Don't create the text area with no parameters. Instead, when you create the text area use something like:
JTextArea textarea = new JTextArea(5, 20);
to suggest a default size of the text area. Then when you have more than 5 lines of text the scrollbar will appear.
So I'm a relatively new Java developer
Start by reading the Swing Tutorial for Swing basics. There is a section on How to Use Text Areas to get you started.
panel.setLayout(null);
scrollpane.setBounds(...)
Don't a null layout. Don't use setBounds(). Swing was designed to be used with layout managers. See the above tutorial for working examples.

GridLayout, split 2nd row into two equal parts

I am using the above layout. All i want is split the second row into two equal and half parts, where I can have a jlabel "enter:" on the left and a jtextfield on the right. How can I accomplish this? I use:
GridLayout gl = new GridLayout(2,1);
setLayout(gl);
JButton jb = new JButton("Click Me!");
jb.setFocusPainted(false);
add(jb);
JLabel jl = new JLabel("Enter:");
JTextField jt = new JTextField();
add(jl);

The simplest solution is to put another JPanel in the bottom row, which is configured to use GridLayout.
Code (tested):
this.setLayout(new GridLayout(2,1));
JButton button = new JButton("Click Me!");
JPanel bottomPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(1,2));
JLabel label = new JLabel("Enter:");
JTextField textField = new JTextField();
bottomPanel.add(label);
bottomPanel.add(textField);
add(button);
add(bottomPanel);

using a box layout in java

the following codes created a box layout conviniently but the problem i have is the textfields occupy the entire rows. which is supposed to asume the parameter length in which it was specified.
public void makeControlpanel(){
JPanel controlpanel = new JPanel();
//SET PANEL LAYOUT MANAGERS
controlpanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(controlpanel,BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
controlpanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Create Control file"));
filenameC = new JLabel("Filename");
filenameBad = new JLabel("Bad Filename");
filenameDis = new JLabel("Discard Filename");
// fields
fileField = new JTextField(1);
badfileField = new JTextField(7);
discardfileField = new JTextField(7);

The layout manager decides the size of the components. You have options to define the bounds of a component to the layout manager using
comp.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(w, h));
comp.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(w, h));
comp.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(w, h));
When you give setPreferredSize layout manager will try to give that size. GridBagLayout is the msot flexible layout and you can prettymuch achieve any layout you need.
The parameter length by defenition only defines the character you can put in the textfield.

Simple question about JTextArea

I want to create a blank text area in which the user can enter a few sentences, and then, when the user closes the window (or before), I want to save this text in a string (and print it just to test that it works). So far, the code I have written does not work:
JTextArea area = new JTextArea(5,20);
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(q);
JFrame frame = new JFrame("TextDemo");
frame.add(scrollPane);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
String paragraph_text = area.getText();
System.out.println(paragraph_text);

You need to add your JTextArea to the scrollpane
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(area);