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How to add JTextField whenever the button is clicked?

I am practising Java Swing and I am trying to create a GPA calculator. I am having a hard time with my code, how can I add text fields whenever the JButton "add" is clicked? I also want the text fields to align vertically when the button is clicked. Should I use a layout or something?
You can check my screenshot as well.
Here is my code:
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.*;
public class gwa implements ActionListener, java.awt.event.ActionListener{
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
//button
JButton buttonAdd = new JButton("Add");
buttonAdd.setBounds(30, 30, 80, 34);
buttonAdd.addActionListener(new gwa());
//textfield
JTextField gradeField = new JTextField();
gradeField.setBounds(150, 30, 100, 35);
JTextField unitsField = new JTextField();
unitsField.setBounds(300, 30, 100, 35);
//panel
panel.setLayout(null);
panel.add(buttonAdd);
panel.add(gradeField);
panel.add(unitsField);
//frame
frame.add(panel);
frame.setSize(500,500);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
}

One way – but not the only way – is to use GridBagLayout.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
public class GwaAdder {
private static final int COLUMNS = 10;
private GridBagConstraints gbc;
private JPanel textFieldsPanel;
private void addTextField(ActionEvent event) {
JTextField textField = new JTextField(COLUMNS);
gbc.gridy++;
textFieldsPanel.add(textField, gbc);
textFieldsPanel.revalidate();
textFieldsPanel.repaint();
}
private void createAndDisplayGui() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(createTextFieldsPanel(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.add(createButtons(), BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
private JPanel createButtons() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
JButton button = new JButton("Add");
button.addActionListener(this::addTextField);
panel.add(button);
return panel;
}
private JScrollPane createTextFieldsPanel() {
textFieldsPanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridy = 0;
JTextField textField = new JTextField(COLUMNS);
textFieldsPanel.add(textField, gbc);
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(textFieldsPanel);
scrollPane.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(140, 200));
return scrollPane;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(() -> new GwaAdder().createAndDisplayGui());
}
}
The ActionListener is implemented using method references. When you change the GUI after it is initially displayed (as the above code does in method addTextField), you usually need to call method revalidate (in class javax.swing.JComponent) followed by method repaint (in class java.awt.Component).
How it looks when I run the above code:

You should first give your button's Action event the panel, and then do the Action
My English is not good, so I use translation software to answer, please forgive me

How can I add a scroll bar to a text area?

Please, anyone, tell me how to add the scrollbar to a JTextArea. I tried out many things. but still not able to get it. I copied some codes related to the text area.
public class main extends JPanel {
private JTextArea jcomp1;
public main() {
jcomp1 = new JTextArea(5, 5);
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(944, 574));
// setPreferredSize (new Dimension (1024, 1080));
setLayout(null);
//add components
add(jcomp1);
jcomp1.setBounds(110, 165, 330, 300);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Paraphrasing Tool");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(new main());
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}

Oracle has a helpful tutorial, Creating a GUI With Swing. Skip the Netbeans section.
As Andrew said, you have to place the JTextArea inside of a JScrollPane, then place the JScrollPane inside of a JPanel with a Swing layout. I used a BorderLayout.
Here's the GUI after I typed some lines.
Here's the complete runnable code.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Insets;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class JTextAreaExample extends JPanel {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private JTextArea jcomp1;
public JTextAreaExample() {
this.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
this.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
jcomp1 = new JTextArea(5, 30);
jcomp1.setMargin(new Insets(5, 5, 5, 5));
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(jcomp1);
scrollPane.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
add(scrollPane);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Paraphrasing Tool");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new JTextAreaExample(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}

Add the text area to (the viewport of) a JScrollPane. The easiest way is to add it in the constructor. Then add the scroll pane to a panel with a layout (in a GUI that uses layouts).

Access and change size of Components placed on a JDialog

I created a modal JDialog (to be correct, a children of JDialog) and set it visible when the user clicks on a JButton on a JFrame. To make sure the content on the JDialog is vertically centered I've overridden the setVisible() method and do some operations before calling super.setVisible(true). The problem here is that no component, that's placed on the dialog, does have an other size than 0 before calling setVisible(true) if the dialog is set to be modal. Also setVisible() does block the execution.
Any suggestions/tips how to bypass/fix this issue?
Sample code:
public class SampleDialog extends JDialog {
protected JPanel contentPane;
public SampleDialog() {
super();
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
setDefaultCloseOperation(HIDE_ON_CLOSE);
setModal(true);
JPanel headerPane = new JPanel();
headerPane.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
add(headerPane, BorderLayout.NORTH);
contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
add(contentPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JPanel footerPane = new JPanel();
footerPane.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
add(footerPane, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
contentPane.setLayout(new BoxLayout(contentPane, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
contentPane.add(new JLabel("Code"));
contentPane.add(new JTextField());
contentPane.add(new JLabel("Password"));
contentPane.add(new JPasswordField());
contentPane.add(new JButton("Login"));
}
#Override
public void setVisible(boolean b) {
/*
* Get total height of all components added to 'contentPane'
* Place Box.createVerticalStrut() before and after the 'contentPane' components,
* so the input fields look like they are centered vertically
* !!! Cannot determine size of any component because it is not rendered
*/
super.setVisible(b);
}
}

to make sure the content on the JDialog is vertically centered i've overriden the setVisible()
You should NOT be overriding setVisible() for this.
To center the component use an appropriate layout manager.
For example to center components vertically and horizontally you can just use a GridBagLayout:
JDialog dialog = new JDialog();
dialog.setLayout( new GrigBagLayout() );
JPanel panel = new JPanel(...);
panel.add(...);
dialog.add(panel, new GridBagConstraints());

You can use MigLayout manager to easily create your intended layout:
package com.zetcode;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JDialog;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JPasswordField;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import net.miginfocom.swing.MigLayout;
/*
* Centering components on screen.
* Author Jan Bodnar
* Website zetcode.com
*/
class MyDialog extends JDialog {
public MyDialog() {
initDialog();
}
private void initDialog() {
JLabel lbl1 = new JLabel("Code");
JTextField field1 = new JTextField(15);
JLabel lbl2 = new JLabel("Password");
JPasswordField field2 = new JPasswordField(15);
JButton btn = new JButton("Login");
createLayout(lbl1, field1, lbl2, field2, btn);
setTitle("Login");
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(HIDE_ON_CLOSE);
setModal(true);
}
private void createLayout(JComponent... arg) {
setLayout(new MigLayout("wrap, align 50% 50%", "[center]"));
add(arg[0]);
add(arg[1]);
add(arg[2]);
add(arg[3]);
add(arg[4]);
pack();
}
}
public class MigLayoutCenterEx extends JFrame {
public MigLayoutCenterEx() {
initUI();
}
private void initUI() {
JPanel pnl = new JPanel();
JButton btn = new JButton("Show dialog");
btn.addActionListener((ActionEvent e) -> {
JDialog dialog = new MyDialog();
dialog.setVisible(true);
});
pnl.add(btn);
add(pnl);
setSize(400, 300);
setTitle("MigLayout example");
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
MigLayoutCenterEx ex = new MigLayoutCenterEx();
ex.setVisible(true);
});
}
}
Screenshot:

JPanel transition, what is wrong with my code?

I am new to java, and learning new things everyday.
Today i stumbled upon an error i just can not get fixed.
So i've got a JFrame with a JPanel inside, now I want to remove the Jpanel when i click on my Start game JLabel, and make it transition into my game JPanel ( for now i use a test JPanel)
JFrame class:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
public class MainMenu extends JFrame {
JPanel panel;
JFrame frame;
JButton playlabel;
public void mainmenu() {
frame = new JFrame();
panel = new JPanel();
playlabel = new JButton ("Nieuw Spel");
//frame
frame.setSize(new Dimension(800, 600));
frame.getContentPane().setBackground(new Color(14,36,69));
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setMinimumSize(frame.getMinimumSize());
frame.setVisible(true);
//panel
Dimension expectedDimension = new Dimension(690, 540);
panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
panel.setPreferredSize(expectedDimension);
panel.setMaximumSize(expectedDimension);
panel.setMinimumSize(expectedDimension);
panel.setBackground(new Color(14, 36, 69));
panel.add(playlabel);
playlabel.setAlignmentX(JComponent.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
//playlabel
playlabel.setFont(new Font("Old English Text MT", Font.BOLD, 40));
playlabel.setBounds(250, 350, 50, 20);
playlabel.setForeground(new Color(217,144,39));
playlabel.setBackground(new Color(14,36,69));
playlabel.setBorderPainted(false);
playlabel.setFocusPainted(false);
playlabel.addActionListener(new PlayListener());
}
private class PlayListener extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
JPanel panelgame = Game.Game();
this.remove(panel);
this.add(panelgame);
this.revalidate();
}
}
}
Game class:
package labyrinthproject.View;
import java.awt.Color;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class Game {
public static JPanel Game(){
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setSize(690, 540);
panel.setBackground(new Color(255,36,69));
return panel;
}
}
if anyone could explain this to me why this doesn't work, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
A beginner java student.

There are quite some issues in your code
Create the GUI on the event dispatch thread
Don't extend JFrame (you have three (three!) JFrames floating around there!)
Follow the naming conventions
Don't overuse static methods
Only store the instance variables that you really need to represent your class state
Don't use manual setSize or setBounds calls. Use a LayoutManager instead
The call to frame.setVisible(true) should be the last call, after the frame has been completely assembled
Consider a CardLayout for switching between panels ( http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/layout/card.html )
Slightly cleaned up, but the exact structure depends on what you actually want to achieve at the end:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class MainMenu extends JPanel
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
createAndShowGUI();
}
});
}
private static void createAndShowGUI()
{
JFrame mainFrame = new JFrame();
mainFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel mainMenu = new MainMenu();
mainFrame.getContentPane().add(mainMenu);
mainFrame.pack();
mainFrame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
mainFrame.setVisible(true);
}
MainMenu()
{
setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
Dimension expectedDimension = new Dimension(690, 540);
setPreferredSize(expectedDimension);
setBackground(new Color(14, 36, 69));
JButton newGameButton = new JButton ("Nieuw Spel");
newGameButton.setAlignmentX(JComponent.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
newGameButton.setFont(new Font("Old English Text MT", Font.BOLD, 40));
newGameButton.setForeground(new Color(217,144,39));
newGameButton.setBackground(new Color(14,36,69));
newGameButton.setBorderPainted(false);
newGameButton.setFocusPainted(false);
newGameButton.addActionListener(new PlayListener());
add(newGameButton);
}
private class PlayListener implements ActionListener
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
removeAll();
GamePanel gamePanel = new GamePanel();
add(gamePanel);
revalidate();
}
}
}
class GamePanel extends JPanel
{
GamePanel()
{
setBackground(new Color(255,36,69));
}
}

You should use a JButton and not a JLabel. Then:
you add to your JButton : Your_JB.addActionListener(this); (don't forget to implement ActionListener to your class).
Now, we are gonna add the detector:
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
Object src = e.getSource();
if(src == Your_JB){
panel.setVisible(false);
}
}
When you click the button, it will make your panel disapear.

Try this:
this.remove(panel);
this.validate();
this.repaint(); //if you use paintComponent
this.add(panelgame);
this.revalidate();
Swing is hard to making nice UI. You just need to use validate() after remove().
I hope it's helpfull.

Set size of jpanel on a JFrame explicitly

I have JPanel with a border, the problem is that when I add the panel on the JFrame it takes the panel size although I set the preferred size for the panel using setPreferredSize. The layout of the frame is 'BoxLayout' and here's the code:
public class ActionForm extends JFrame {
JPanel namePanel;
JPanel descPanel;
JLabel actionName;
JLabel nameLabel;
JTextField nameTextField, descTextField;
FlowLayout toolBarLayout = new FlowLayout();
public ActionForm() {
this.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this.getContentPane(), BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
TitledBorder nameBorder= BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(
"Change Description");
nameBorder.setTitleJustification(TitledBorder.LEFT);
namePanel = new JPanel(toolBarLayout);
namePanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(150, 150));
nameLabel = new JLabel("ButtonName");
nameTextField = new JTextField("Action's Name", 50);
namePanel.add(nameLabel);
namePanel.add(nameTextField);
namePanel.setBorder(nameBorder);
namePanel.setComponentOrientation(ComponentOrientation.LEFT_TO_RIGHT);
this.add(namePanel);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ActionForm form = new ActionForm();
form.setVisible(true);
form.setSize(970, 500);
form.setResizable(false);
}
}
Why the size of the panel doesn't change?

BoxLayout accepting Min/Max/preferredSize that came from JComponents layed by this LayoutManager
(I'm don't want to comment something, because my answer will be so long) please to compare your code with this code example, there are implemented all good (required and important) Swing rulles
for example
import java.awt.ComponentOrientation;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.border.TitledBorder;
public class ActionForm {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private JFrame frame;
private JPanel namePanel;
private JLabel nameLabel;
private JTextField nameTextField;
private FlowLayout toolBarLayout = new FlowLayout();
public ActionForm() {
TitledBorder nameBorder = BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(
"Change Description");
nameBorder.setTitleJustification(TitledBorder.LEFT);
namePanel = new JPanel(toolBarLayout);
namePanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(150, 150));// hardCoded sizing
namePanel.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(250, 150)); // hardCoded sizing
namePanel.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(150, 150)); // hardCoded sizing
nameLabel = new JLabel("ButtonName");
nameTextField = new JTextField("Action's Name", 10);
namePanel.add(nameLabel);
namePanel.add(nameTextField);
namePanel.setBorder(nameBorder);
namePanel.setComponentOrientation(ComponentOrientation.LEFT_TO_RIGHT);
frame = new JFrame("Mix / Max / PreferredSize for BoxLayout");
frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new BoxLayout(frame.getContentPane(),
BoxLayout.Y_AXIS)); // otherwise nice exceptions java.awt.AWTError:
// BoxLayout can't be shared
frame.add(namePanel);
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(970, 500));
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
ActionForm form = new ActionForm();
}
});
}
}