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Can not figure out a simple 4 box JPanel layout

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.

GridBagLayout compnent's position not working

Hi i am beginner to java and doing small GUI using GridBagLayout. See the attached code and also the output . what i want is to place the JButtons on top left corner as per the position assigned in gridx and gridy . But it placing components in center instead of top left as expected , if i use Insets , gridx /gridy all that is working but not from proper coordinates so please see attached code and image and guide me about it
public rect()
{
JPanel panel = new JPanel( new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
JButton nb1= new JButton("Button1 ");
JButton nb2= new JButton("Button2 ");
gbc.gridx=0;
gbc.gridy=0 ;
panel.add(nb1, gbc);
gbc.gridx=1;
gbc.gridy=1;
panel.add(nb2, gbc);
panel.setVisible(true);
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Address Book ");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation (JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(300, 300 );
frame.add(panel);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
OUTPUT : want these buttons on top left please guide me

I think the problem is more the use of setSize(..), you should rather use appropriate LayoutManager and call pack() on JFrame instance after adding all components to JFrame and before setting JFrame visible, also no need for panel.setVisible(..):
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
JButton nb1 = new JButton("Button1 ");
JButton nb2 = new JButton("Button2 ");
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
panel.add(nb1, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.gridy = 1;
panel.add(nb2, gbc);
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Address Book ");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(panel);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}

Nested JPanels and GridBagLayout Not "Packing" Components

I've attached a screenshot for which the following Border legend applies:
Yellow = JPanel with BorderLayout
Blue = JPanel with GridBagLayout
Fuchsia = JPanel with FlowLayout
There are two panels not blocked out in colors that warrant mentioning:
1) The title panel where the word "Primary" is displayed; this panel is at BorderLayout.NORTH in "Yellow" panel.
2) The image panel where the image of the device is located; this panel is a sibling to "Fuchsia"
"Blue" is at BorderLayout.CENTER in "Yellow" while "Fuchsia" and the image panel are given the following constraints:
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
c.weightx = 1.0;
c.weighty = 1.0;
c.gridx = 0;
c.gridy = 0;
c.anchor = GridBagConstraints.NORTHWEST;
c.insets = new Insets(0, 10, 0, 0);
c.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
//"Blue".add(imagePanel, c);
c.weighty = 0.80;
c.gridy = 1;
c.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
//"Blue".add("Fuchsia", c);
As you can probably tell from the image, I'm trying to get rid of the "wasted" space in "Blue" right below "Fuchsia". I don't seem to be able to do it with GridBagConstraints, so am I just using the wrong LayoutManager? It looks to me like "Blue", who is at CENTER in the BorderLayout is just giving each child JPanel half of the available space and reserving the remainder space instead of contracting upward. What am I missing here? Is this simply a matter of setting a preferred or maximum size on "Fuchsia"? it doesn't seem like that will get me where I want to be, since the border around "Fuchsia" (which is covered by my color coding) is where I want the end of the component to be.

Have a look at this output, from this code example :
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class LayoutTest
{
private void displayGUI()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Layout Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setOpaque(true);
contentPane.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
contentPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout(2, 2));
JPanel topPanel = new JPanel();
topPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));
JLabel headingLabel = new JLabel("Primary");
topPanel.add(headingLabel);
contentPane.add(topPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
JPanel centerPanel = new JPanel();
centerPanel.setOpaque(true);
centerPanel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
centerPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.FIRST_LINE_START;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.weightx = 1.0;
gbc.weighty = 0.2;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
JPanel imagePanel = new JPanel();
JLabel imageLabel = null;
try
{
imageLabel = new JLabel(
new ImageIcon(
new java.net.URL(
"http://pscode.org/"
+ "tame/screenshot/"
+ "landscape/slider1.gif")));
}
catch(Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
imagePanel.add(imageLabel);
centerPanel.add(imagePanel, gbc);
JPanel detailsPanel = new JPanel();
detailsPanel.setOpaque(true);
detailsPanel.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
detailsPanel.setBorder(
BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(
5, 5, 5, 5));
detailsPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1, 5, 5));
JLabel statusLabel = new JLabel("Chassis Status : ");
JLabel usageLabel = new JLabel("Bandwidth Usage : ");
JLabel fanLabel = new JLabel("Fan Status : ");
detailsPanel.add(statusLabel);
detailsPanel.add(usageLabel);
detailsPanel.add(fanLabel);
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.weighty = 0.8;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 3;
centerPanel.add(detailsPanel, gbc);
contentPane.add(centerPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String... args)
{
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
new LayoutTest().displayGUI();
}
});
}
}

Without using GridBagLayout could be
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.border.LineBorder;
public class NestedLayout {
private JFrame frame = new JFrame();
private JPanel yellowNorthPanel = new JPanel();
private JPanel yellowPanel = new JPanel();
private JPanel bluePanel = new JPanel();
private JPanel fuchsiaTopPanel = new JPanel();
private JPanel fuchsiaBottonPanel = new JPanel();
public NestedLayout() {
yellowNorthPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.yellow, 5));
yellowPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
yellowPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.yellow, 5));
bluePanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
bluePanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.blue, 5));
fuchsiaTopPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.cyan, 5));
fuchsiaBottonPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.cyan, 5));
bluePanel.add(fuchsiaTopPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
bluePanel.add(fuchsiaBottonPanel);
yellowPanel.add(bluePanel);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(yellowNorthPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
frame.add(yellowPanel);
//frame.pack();
frame.setSize(400, 300);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new NestedLayout();
}
});
}
}

BoxLayout misunderstanding strut

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();
}
});
}
}

Java Swing - JLabel width changed when icon or text added?

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!