I have been trying for hours to get JPanel in Java to contain these 4 other panels in this configuration (see picture)
The blue box should never change size.
The white box should never change height, can get wider though.
The dark grey box should never change widths, can get taller though.
The light grey box can get taller or wider.
Seems pretty simple to me, I did it in C# the other day and it was a breeze. Set the position, the width, height, and whether a certain side was anchored or not, boom done, I was starting to like java more than C until I ran into this.
I've tried countless combinations of GridBagLayout, multiple nested BoxLayout instances. They all seem to do very strange things, like make each panel a tiny 4 x 4 square, or there is crazy padding around them, or the ones that need to re-size with the window, don't.
Is there some kind of magic combination that can achieve this? Does the null layout do anchoring or percent dimensions.
The closest I've gotten is the bottom image with GridBagLayout, which looks good when it loads, but does that when you re-size the window.
Here is the code that got the above images
class MainPanel extends JPanel {
public MainPanel(){
this.setBackground(new Color(216,216,216));
this.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
JPanel topTitle = new JPanel();
topTitle.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(140, 40));
topTitle.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(140, 40));
topTitle.setBackground(new Color(174, 216, 249));
c.weightx = 0.5;
c.gridx = 0;
c.gridy = 0;
this.add(topTitle,c);
JPanel mainHeader = new JPanel();
mainHeader.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(1060, 40));
mainHeader.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(1060, 40));
mainHeader.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
c.gridx = 1;
c.gridy = 0;
this.add(mainHeader,c);
JPanel sideNav = new JPanel();
sideNav.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(140, 760));
sideNav.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(140, 760));
sideNav.setBackground(new Color(110,110,110));
c.gridx = 0;
c.gridy = 1;
this.add(sideNav,c);
JPanel dataPanel = new JPanel();
dataPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(1060, 760));
dataPanel.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(1060, 760));
dataPanel.setBackground(new Color(216,216,216));
c.gridx = 1;
c.gridy = 1;
this.add(dataPanel,c);
}
}
GUI at minimum size
GUI stretched wider & taller
It's all about getting appropriate resize weights & fill values..
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
public class FourPanelLayout {
private JComponent ui = null;
FourPanelLayout() {
initUI();
}
public void initUI() {
if (ui!=null) return;
ui = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
// It appears you don't want space around the panels.
// If not, commment out or remove this line.
ui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(4,4,4,4));
// create the panels, each with a transparent image to suggest a size
JPanel bluePanel = new JPanel();
bluePanel.setBackground(Color.CYAN);
bluePanel.add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon(getTransparentImage(40, 20))));
JPanel darkGrayPanel = new JPanel();
darkGrayPanel.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
darkGrayPanel.add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon(getTransparentImage(40, 20))));
JPanel whitePanel = new JPanel();
whitePanel.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
whitePanel.add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon(getTransparentImage(40, 20))));
JPanel grayPanel = new JPanel();
grayPanel.setBackground(Color.GRAY);
grayPanel.add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon(getTransparentImage(360, 80))));
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.weightx = 0.0f;
gbc.weighty = 0.0f;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
ui.add(bluePanel, gbc);
gbc.weightx = .5f;
gbc.gridx = 1;
ui.add(whitePanel, gbc);
gbc.weighty = .5f;
gbc.gridy = 1;
ui.add(grayPanel, gbc);
gbc.weightx = 0f;
gbc.gridx = 0;
//gbc.gridy
ui.add(darkGrayPanel, gbc);
}
/* We use transparent images to give panels a natural size. */
private Image getTransparentImage(int w, int h) {
return new BufferedImage(w, h, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB);
}
public JComponent getUI() {
return ui;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (Exception useDefault) {
}
FourPanelLayout o = new FourPanelLayout();
JFrame f = new JFrame(o.getClass().getSimpleName());
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
f.setContentPane(o.getUI());
f.pack();
f.setMinimumSize(f.getSize());
f.setVisible(true);
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}
To implement this, I recommended to use FormLayout.
FormLayout is a powerful, flexible and precise general purpose layout manager. It places components in a grid of columns and rows, allowing specified components to span multiple columns or rows. Not all columns/rows necessarily have the same width/height.
Note: It good to use Windowbuilder in Eclipse or GUI Form in Intellij to automatically place and set the components properties.
Related
My partner and I are writing this program for a game. He used GridBagLayout for our grid and I'm trying to troubleshoot some problems with the grid.
Here's the code:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class NewGame extends JFrame{
private int width = 500, height = 500, xSquares = 4, ySquares = 4;
Font buttonFont = new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 15);
endGame end = new endGame();
public NewGame() {
super("OnO");
// gridbaglayout is flexible but kinda complicated
GridBagLayout Griddy = new GridBagLayout();
this.setLayout(Griddy);
JPanel p = new JPanel();
p.setLayout(Griddy);
this.add(p);
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
c.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
c.weightx = 1;
c.weighty = 1;
c.gridwidth = 4;
c.gridheight = 4;
NewBoard board = new NewBoard(xSquares, ySquares);
// board at top left
c.gridx = 0;
c.gridy = 0;
this.add(board, c);
// find a way to make buttons smaller
JButton EndGame = new JButton("End");
EndGame.setBackground(Color.black);
EndGame.setForeground(Color.white);
EndGame.setFont(buttonFont);
EndGame.addActionListener(end);
JButton Undo = new JButton("Undo");
Undo.setBackground(Color.black);
Undo.setForeground(Color.white);
Undo.setFont(buttonFont);
JButton NewGame = new JButton("New Game");
NewGame.setBackground(Color.black);
NewGame.setForeground(Color.white);
NewGame.setFont(buttonFont);
// fit 3
c.gridwidth = 1;
c.gridheight = 1;
c.gridy = 3;
c.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
p.add(EndGame, c);
c.gridx = 2;
c.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
p.add(Undo, c);
c.gridx = 3;
c.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
p.add(NewGame, c);
this.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.pack();
this.setLocation(450, 30);
this.setVisible(true);
}
public class endGame implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
System.exit(0);
}
}
public class newGame implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
}
}
}
When this code is run with the other classes in our program, the endGame, Undo, and NewGame buttons overlap with the board:
I want to find a way to display the 3 buttons either above or below the board in its individual space, but I've tinkered with the code for a long time and can't find the solution yet. I'm not sure what I should be doing here.
First of all, variable names should NOT start with an upper case character. Learn and follow Java naming conventions.
I want to find a way to display the 3 buttons either above or below the board
Simplest solution is to not use a GridBagLayout for the frame.
Just use the default BorderLayout of the frame. Then you can use a JPanel with the FlowLayout for your buttons, and a GridLayout for your board panel.
The basic logic would be:
JPanel buttons = new JPanel();
buttons.add(endGame);
buttons.add(undo);
buttons.add(newGame);
this.add(button, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
NewBoard board = new NewBoard(xSquares, ySquares);
this.add(board, BorderLayout.CENTER);
By default a JPanel uses a FlowLayout so the buttons will be displayed on a single row.
Read the Swing tutorial on Layout Managers for more information and working examples to better understand how this suggestion works.
I have Java Swing application with JFrame using BorderLayout and inside it is a JPanel using CardLayout. I am displaying 3 different cards.
If I manually set the size of the JFrame, then the content is displayed like I want it. Label with image is in south east corner.
But when I set it to full screen, there is to much margin:
Here is the code with which I set it to full screen:
Frame[] frames = Frame.getFrames();
JFrame frame = (JFrame) frames[0];
frame.setExtendedState(JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH);
//frame.getContentPane().setPreferredSize( Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize());
frame.setUndecorated(true);
//frame.setSize(600,500);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
Cards are build with Netbeans GUI builder and for layout is set "Free Design".
Application will be whole time in full screen, where I would like that label with the image is SE corner, like it is on resized window(image example 1). Do I need to change layout for this or is it something else?
Note that these UIs have a small border around the entire UI. To remove it, comment out the line:
ui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(4,4,4,4));
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
public class ImageInSouthEast {
private JComponent ui = null;
ImageInSouthEast() {
initUI();
}
public void initUI() {
if (ui!=null) return;
ui = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
ui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(4,4,4,4));
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.WEST;
gbc.gridwidth = 2;
gbc.weighty = .5;
gbc.weightx = .5;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
// first add the labels
for (int ii=1; ii<5; ii++) {
gbc.gridy = ii;
if (ii==4) {
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
}
JLabel l = new JLabel("Label " + ii);
l.setFont(l.getFont().deriveFont(50f));
ui.add(l, gbc);
}
// now for the image!
BufferedImage bi = new BufferedImage(100, 50, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
JLabel l = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(bi));
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.LAST_LINE_END;
gbc.gridx = 2;
gbc.weighty = 0;
ui.add(l, gbc);
}
public JComponent getUI() {
return ui;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (Exception useDefault) {
}
ImageInSouthEast o = new ImageInSouthEast();
JFrame f = new JFrame(o.getClass().getSimpleName());
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
f.setContentPane(o.getUI());
f.pack();
f.setMinimumSize(f.getSize());
f.setVisible(true);
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}
If you just want to remove the gap between the text then you could just use BoxLayout.
Set the layout by doing this:
Container pane = frame.getContentPane();
pane.setLayout(new BoxLayout(pane, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
pane.add(Box.createHorizontalGlue());
Adding an element
public void add(Component comp, int gap){
//comp is the component that will be added
//gap is the extra space after the last component and this
pane.remove(pane.getComponents().length - 1);
pane.add(Box.createVerticalStrut(gap));
pane.add(comp);
//Obviously pane or frame need to be visible to use this method
}
Add Text by doing this:
add(new JLabel(text), 5);
Add the image by doing this:
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.add(image, BorderLayout.EAST);
panel.setOpaque(false);
add(Box.createHorizontalGlue(),0);
add(panel,0);
I was wondering how I can resize the 'alarmClockButton' in my code, I've tried setSize(); and setPreferredSize(); however they both don't work. I am using the GridBagLayout for this. Any ideas?
public class MainMenu {
// JFrame = the actual menu / frame.
private JFrame frame;
// JLabel = provides text instructions or information on a GUI —
// display a single line of read-only text, an image or both text and an image.
private JLabel background, logo;
// JButton = button.
private JButton alarmClockButton;
// Constructor to create menu
public MainMenu() {
frame = new JFrame("Alarm Clock");
alarmClockButton = new JButton("Timer");
alarmClockButton.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(1000, 1000));
// Add an event to clicking the button.
alarmClockButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// TODO: CHANGE TO SOMETHING NICER
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "This feature hasn't been implemented yet.", "We're sorry!",
JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
}
});
// Creating the background
try {
background = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(getClass()
.getResourceAsStream("/me/devy/alarm/clock/resources/background.jpg"))));
logo = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(getClass()
.getResourceAsStream("/me/devy/alarm/clock/resources/logo.png"))));
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
background.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
frame.setContentPane(background);
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
// Inset = spacing between each component
gbc.insets = new Insets(15,15, 15, 15);
// Positioning
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
frame.add(logo, gbc);
// Positioning
// Keep x the same = aligned. On same x-coordinate (think math!)
gbc.gridx = 0;
// Y = 2 down
gbc.gridy = 1;
frame.add(alarmClockButton, gbc);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(550, 200);
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
alarmClockButton.setForeground(Color.RED);
}
}
Thanks!
You can effect the size of the button through the GridBagConstraints, for example...
Using ipadx and ipady, which add to the components preferredSize
gbc.ipadx = 100;
gbc.ipady = 100;
Produces something like...
You can also use...
gbc.weightx = 1;
gbc.weighty = 1;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
which changes the amount of space which the component will occupy and how the component is filled within it's given cell...
Note:
Because you're using a JLabel as your background component, you will be limited to the the label's preferred size, which is calculated through the icon and text properties only, it won't use the layout manager to calculate these results.
I'm prgramming a simple input diagram in Swing. I use boxLayout to create a simple GUI of user input. Problem is that creating a horizontal strut between the JPanel of all the labels and the JPanel of the JTextFields causes the whole panel to shift downwards (weird) this is the whole panel:
private JPanel secondCard() {
//main panel. set the boxlayout
secondCard = new JPanel();
secondCard.setLayout(new BoxLayout(secondCard,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
// create vertical strut for looks
secondCard.add(Box.createVerticalStrut(20));
// create title. center it.
JLabel title = new JLabel("Configure main network parameters ");
title.setAlignmentX(CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
secondCard.add(title);
// create vertical strut for looks
secondCard.add(Box.createVerticalStrut(20));
// create panel for the description labels
JPanel labelPanel = new JPanel();
labelPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(labelPanel,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
labelPanel.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
JLabel inPut =new JLabel("number of inputs");
inPut.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
labelPanel.add(inPut);
inPut =new JLabel("number of outputs");
inPut.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
labelPanel.add(inPut);
inPut =new JLabel("number of layers");
inPut.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
labelPanel.add(inPut);
JPanel textFieldPanel = new JPanel();
textFieldPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(textFieldPanel,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
textFieldPanel.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
JTextField inputTextField = new JTextField();
inputTextField.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
textFieldPanel.add(inputTextField);
inputTextField.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(0,0));
inputTextField = new JTextField();
inputTextField.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
textFieldPanel.add(inputTextField);
inputTextField.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(0,0));
inputTextField = new JTextField();
inputTextField.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
textFieldPanel.add(inputTextField);
inputTextField.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(0,0));
textFieldPanel.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(50, labelPanel.getMaximumSize().height));
JPanel inputPanel = new JPanel();
inputPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(inputPanel,BoxLayout.X_AXIS));
inputPanel.setAlignmentX(CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
inputPanel.add(labelPanel);
//this is the problem strut!! it causes inputPanel to shift downwards
inputPanel.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(20));
inputPanel.add(textFieldPanel);
secondCard.add(inputPanel);
return secondCard;
}
without the strut it looks like:
With strut it looks like (I know I suck at picture editing):
You are adding a Box strut to a BoxLayout.
As the javadoc states, createHorizontalStrut(int width):
Creates an invisible, fixed-width component. In a horizontal box, you
typically use this method to force a certain amount of space between
two components. In a vertical box, you might use this method to force
the box to be at least the specified width. The invisible component
has no height unless excess space is available, in which case it takes
its share of available space, just like any other component that has
no maximum height.
As such, it is filling the height between your title JLabel and the bottom of the JPanel.
You might want to consider using Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(20, height)) instead, where height could be specified or set to the height of labelPanel.
Or, you could reconsider the layout for your JPanel - take a look at the visual guide.
For future reference, if you cannot make sense of your Swing layout, try putting adding a coloured LineBorder to the JComponents you're unsure of. In this case, the Box struts are not JComponents but Components, so you'd have to put them into a JPanel, but this would at least have shown you what space each component was taking up in your top-level JPanel.
use Cardlayout for wizard logics
put JLabel(Configure ...., JLabel.CENTER) to the BorderLayout.NORTH
put JPanel with JButtons to the BorderLayout.SOUTH
put JPanel with SpringLayout, GridLayout, or GridBagLayout to the BorderLayout.CENTER
Top-Level Container have got implemened BorderLayout by default, then there no reason to re_define BorderLayout
above mentioned steps are called NestedLayout
alternative are put all JComponents by using GridBagLayout, SpringLayout or todays MigLayout to the one JPanel, but why bothering
Example of a nested layout, one using BorderLayout, FlowLayout (JPanel's default), and GridBagLayout:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.Insets;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.swing.*;
public class LayoutFoo {
private static final String TITLE = "Configure Main Foobar Parameters";
private static final String[] LABEL_TEXTS = {
"Number of Spams", "Number of Frapzats", "Number of Zignuts"
};
private static final int TEXTFIELD_SIZE = 10;
private static final Insets WEST_INSETS = new Insets(5, 5, 5, 10);
private static final Insets EAST_INSETS = new Insets(5, 10, 5, 5);
private static final int EB_GAP = 5;
private Map<String, JTextField> textFieldMap = new HashMap<String, JTextField>();
public JPanel getConfigFooPanel() {
JPanel textFieldPanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
for (int i = 0; i < LABEL_TEXTS.length; i++) {
addTextAndField(textFieldPanel, LABEL_TEXTS[i], i);
}
int blVertGap = 20;
JPanel borderLayoutPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(0, blVertGap));
borderLayoutPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(EB_GAP, EB_GAP,
EB_GAP, EB_GAP));
JLabel titleLabel = new JLabel(TITLE, JLabel.CENTER);
borderLayoutPanel.add(titleLabel, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
borderLayoutPanel.add(textFieldPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JPanel outerWrapperFlowPanel = new JPanel();
outerWrapperFlowPanel.add(borderLayoutPanel);
return outerWrapperFlowPanel;
}
public String getFieldText(String labelText) {
JTextField field = textFieldMap.get(labelText);
if (field == null) {
return ""; // ?? throw exception
} else {
return field.getText();
}
}
private void addTextAndField(JPanel panel, String text, int i) {
JLabel label = new JLabel(text, JLabel.LEFT);
JTextField textField = new JTextField(TEXTFIELD_SIZE);
textFieldMap.put(text, textField);
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = i;
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
gbc.weightx = 1.0;
gbc.weighty = 1.0;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.WEST;
gbc.insets = WEST_INSETS;
panel.add(label, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.EAST;
gbc.insets = EAST_INSETS;
panel.add(textField, gbc);
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("LayoutFoo");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(new LayoutFoo().getConfigFooPanel());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}
Same Question, different context
It seems I was too hasty in my accepting before, since the problem is still there. The problem? JLabel takes the liberty of expanding its parent panel when content is added to it.
It's time for reproducing it per "Hovercraft full of eels"-ses suggestion, and here it is:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class TestLabel {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Var inits
JFrame frame;
JPanel panel;
JLabel label;
Container pane;
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
// Frame, content pane, layout inits
frame = new JFrame("Label Tester");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
pane = frame.getContentPane();
pane.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
gbc.weighty = 1;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
// Add panels (note gbc weighty and fill carries over all instances)
gbc.weightx = 0.3;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
frame.add(panel,gbc);
label = new JLabel("THE PANEL IS NOW DISTORTED TO FIT THIS LABEL WHY IS THIS HAPPENING");
//label = new JLabel("");
label.setOpaque(true);
label.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
panel.add(label);
gbc.weightx = 0.7;
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.gridy = 0;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.RED);
frame.add(panel,gbc);
gbc.weightx = 0.3;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 1;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
frame.add(panel,gbc);
gbc.weightx = 0.7;
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.gridy = 1;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
frame.add(panel,gbc);
frame.pack();
frame.setSize(800,600);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
Results:
As you can see, the green panel is forced wider and throws off my whole layout when text (or, in the original question, and icon) is added to it. I want my layout to remain the same weights, regardless of the content. The reason this came up is because I'm trying to add a scaled image as an icon to the label, as seen in the original question.
Incidentally, setPreferredSize() doesn't seem to work.
Is there a way to fix this?
Original Question
My JLabel element expands dramatically when I add an Icon to it. Why is this happening? Here's the applicable portion of the code:
// Show label and BG color
redLabel.setBackground(Color.RED);
redLabel.setOpaque(true);
// Grab stretched image (already loaded elsewhere in the code) and turn to icon
Img = Img.getScaledInstance(redLabel.getWidth(),12,Image.SCALE_REPLICATE);
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon(Img);
// This line throws everything off!
//It's commented out in the first pic, and included in the second.
redLabel.setIcon(icon);
As you can see from the first pic, I've got a label (in red) of width W. What I'm trying to do is stretch my icon to width W and put it in the label.
When I do this, the label expands (by exactly 50 pixels, I think) and also squeezes over the left edge (green). Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?
I've tried several things that are too verbose to explain but can't find the problem :-/
Your component expands because it allocates the necessary space for its Icon.
public class JLabelDemo {
private static BufferedImage bi;
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException{
loadImage();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
createAndShowGUI();
}
});
}
private static void loadImage() throws IOException{
bi = ImageIO.read(JLabelDemo.class.getResource("../resource/forever-alone.jpg"));
}
private static void createAndShowGUI(){
final JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
final JLabel emptyLabel = new JLabel();
final JLabel textLabel = new JLabel("This label has text only");
final JLabel textAndImageLabel = new JLabel("This label has text and image");
textAndImageLabel.setIcon(new ImageIcon(bi));
panel.add(emptyLabel);
panel.add(textLabel);
panel.add(textAndImageLabel);
frame.add(panel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
System.out.println("Empty label dimensions - " + emptyLabel.getSize());
System.out.println("Text only label dimensions - " + textLabel.getSize());
System.out.println("Image width: " + bi.getWidth() + ", Image height: " + bi.getHeight());
System.out.println("Text and image label dimensions - " +textAndImageLabel.getSize());
}
}
The following is outputted to console:
Empty label dimensions - java.awt.Dimension[width=0,height=0]
Text only label dimensions - java.awt.Dimension[width=129,height=16]
Image width: 194, Image height: 180
Text and image label dimensions - java.awt.Dimension[width=363,height=180]
Consider using a JLayeredPane to add components in layers. There are trips and traps though when doing this in matters of opacity, size and position of components added.
For example,
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class TestLabel {
private static final Dimension SIZE = new Dimension(800, 600);
public static void main(String[] args) {
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
JPanel defaultPane = new JPanel();
defaultPane.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
gbc.weighty = 1;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
// Add panels (note gbc weighty and fill carries over all instances)
gbc.weightx = 0.3;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
defaultPane.add(panel, gbc);
gbc.weightx = 0.7;
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.gridy = 0;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.RED);
defaultPane.add(panel, gbc);
gbc.weightx = 0.3;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 1;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
defaultPane.add(panel, gbc);
gbc.weightx = 0.7;
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.gridy = 1;
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
defaultPane.add(panel, gbc);
defaultPane.setSize(SIZE);
JLabel label = new JLabel("THE PANEL IS NOW DISTORTED TO FIT THIS LABEL WHY IS THIS HAPPENING");
label.setOpaque(true);
label.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
JPanel northPalettePanel = new JPanel();
northPalettePanel.setOpaque(false);
northPalettePanel.add(label);
JPanel palettePanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
palettePanel.setOpaque(false);
palettePanel.setSize(SIZE);
palettePanel.setLocation(0, 0);
palettePanel.add(northPalettePanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JLayeredPane layeredPane = new JLayeredPane();
layeredPane.setPreferredSize(SIZE);
layeredPane.add(defaultPane, JLayeredPane.DEFAULT_LAYER);
layeredPane.add(palettePanel, JLayeredPane.PALETTE_LAYER);
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Label Tester");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(layeredPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
Java swing is pretty old for me but if I remember well, setting a preferred size (setPreferredSize()) sometime solve these kind of problem ... Also try top lay with setMaximumSize and setMinimumSize.
You can maybe find more information in java documentation:
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/layout/using.html#sizealignment
Regards!