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Can't get the buttons to be on the center right position

I'm trying to figure out how to position my buttons in the center right position. I added what Ive done so far and I'll add a drawing of how I want it to be.
I'm trying to understand how to determine the position I want in Swing, can't really understand the advantages of each layout.
My code so far:
package Game;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.Image;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JToolBar;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class MainWindow extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
private JButton exit;
private JButton start_Game;
private ImageIcon puzzleBackground;
// private JLabel back_Label;
// private GridBagConstraints grid = new GridBagConstraints();
private JPanel menu;
public MainWindow()
{
super("Welcome");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
setSize(450,300);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
this.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.RIGHT));
menu = new JPanel();
menu.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
//setResizable(false);
//===== Background =====
puzzleBackground = new ImageIcon("MyBackground.jpg");
setContentPane(new JLabel(puzzleBackground));
exit = new JButton("Exit");
menu.add(exit, BorderLayout.CENTER);
exit.addActionListener(this);
start_Game = new JButton("Start to play");
menu.add(start_Game, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
exit.addActionListener(this);
start_Game.addActionListener(this);
//
// back_Label = new JLabel(puzzleBackground);
// back_Label.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
//===== Buttons =====
// back_Label.add(exit,BorderLayout.CENTER);
//
// back_Label.add(start_Game,BorderLayout.EAST);
//
add(menu);
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
MainWindow a = new MainWindow();
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(e.getSource() == exit)
{
System.exit(0);
}
else
{
//open start up window.
}
}
}

A better way to add a BG image is to use a custom painted JPanel. Then set the layout of the panel and add other panels or components to it. Note that here the buttons are not appearing largely because they are being added to a JLabel.
Here is an alternative that works along the same lines, with the red panel being the panel which custom paints the background image and the menu panel being set to transparent (look for the opaque method).
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
public class MainWindow extends JFrame {
private JPanel menu;
private JPanel contentPane = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(4,4));
public MainWindow() {
super("Welcome");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
//setSize(450, 300); // use pack() instead
setContentPane(contentPane);
contentPane.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(8,8,8,8));
contentPane.setBackground(Color.RED);
contentPane.add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon(
new BufferedImage(400,200,BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB))));
menu = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1,10,10));
menu.add(new JButton("Exit"), BorderLayout.CENTER);
menu.add(new JButton("Start to play"), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
JPanel menuCenterPanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
menuCenterPanel.add(menu);
add(menuCenterPanel, BorderLayout.LINE_END);
pack();
setLocationRelativeTo(null); // do AFTER pack()
setMinimumSize(getSize());
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
MainWindow a = new MainWindow();
}
}

So, your basic problem boils down the following lines...
this.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
//...
//===== Background =====
puzzleBackground = new ImageIcon("MyBackground.jpg");
setContentPane(new JLabel(puzzleBackground));
Can you tell me what the layout manager in use actually is now? Wrong. The layout manager is now null, because JLabel doesn't actually have a default layout manager.
So, the "simple" answer would be to move the setLayout call to below the setContentPane call, but this would be a short sighted answer, as JLabel calculates it's preferred based on the icon and text properties only, not it's contents of child components.
A better solution would be to do something demonstrated in How to set a background picture in JPanel (see the second example)
This means that if the image is smaller then the required space, the components will disappear off the screen.
I went through and cleaned up the code slightly, only with the intention of getting the layout to work
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class MainWindow extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
private JButton exit;
private JButton start_Game;
private JPanel menu;
public MainWindow() {
super("Welcome");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
this.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
menu = new JPanel();
menu.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
exit = new JButton("Exit");
exit.addActionListener(this);
start_Game = new JButton("Start to play");
exit.addActionListener(this);
start_Game.addActionListener(this);
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.weightx = 1;
gbc.fill = gbc.HORIZONTAL;
gbc.gridwidth = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
menu.add(exit, gbc);
menu.add(start_Game, gbc);
// This is just a filler, it can be removed, but it helps prove the point
add(new JPanel() {
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
});
add(menu, BorderLayout.EAST);
pack();
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
MainWindow a = new MainWindow();
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (e.getSource() == exit) {
System.exit(0);
} else {
//open start up window.
}
}
}
I'd also like to point out that extending directly from JFrame is also short sighted, it's locking you into a single use container and you're not actually adding any new functionality to the class.
Example of better structure...
The following is a simple example of a possibly better structure. It's missing the concept of a "controller", which controls stuff and "model" which maintains the state information which is used by the UI to display "stuff", but gives a starting point
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 java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
new Main();
}
public Main() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Welcome");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new MainPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class MainPane extends JPanel {
public MainPane() {
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
// This is just a filler, it can be removed, but it helps prove the point
add(new JPanel() {
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
});
add(new MenuPane(), BorderLayout.EAST);
}
}
public class MenuPane extends JPanel {
private JButton exit;
private JButton start_Game;
private JPanel menu;
public MenuPane() {
menu = new JPanel();
menu.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
ActionHandler actionHandler = new ActionHandler();
exit = new JButton("Exit");
exit.addActionListener(actionHandler);
start_Game = new JButton("Start to play");
start_Game.addActionListener(actionHandler);
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.weightx = 1;
gbc.fill = gbc.HORIZONTAL;
gbc.gridwidth = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
menu.add(exit, gbc);
menu.add(start_Game, gbc);
}
public class ActionHandler implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (e.getSource() == exit) {
System.exit(0);
} else {
//open start up window.
// This should be used to notifiy a controller class
// that some new action needs to take place, the controller
// is then responsible for making it happen
}
}
}
}
}

Doing UI in Java is not advised, but ignoring that.
You get (calculate) the height and width of the screen. Then start drawing buttons depending on that. Drawing a button on screens 50% of pixel value width and 50% of pixel value of height will center the button.
Simply crate buttons with variable location that is calculated from main screen px size and place them where ever you want.

Display the selection of the combo Box in the Selection panel's text field

I am trying to display the selection of the combo Box in the Selection panel's text field
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.ParseException;
import java.util.Date;
import javax.swing.AbstractButton;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
public class Department extends JFrame {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public static final String Art = "Art";
public static final String Biology = "Biology";
public static final String Chemistry = "Chemistry";
public static final String Computer_Science = "Computer_Science";
public static final String Economics = "Economics";
public static final String History = "History";
public static final String Music = "Music";
public static final String Philosophy = "Philosophy";
public static final String Physics = "Physics";
public static final String Psycholgy = "Psychology";
public static final String Psychology = "Psychology";
//constructor
public Department() {
setSize(700, 150);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setVisible(true);// making the frame visible
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setTitle("Banner Self Service For Brahmbhatt");
TermPanel();
}
//400 width and 500 height
//private method with components
private void TermPanel() {
//base panel
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
panel.setSize(700, 190);
panel.setBackground(Color.darkGray);
JPanel selectionPanel = new JPanel();
selectionPanel.setSize(10, 10);
selectionPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1));
JTextField zodiacSign = new JTextField(10);
//adding the instructions for creating the birthday panel
JPanel birthdayPanel = new JPanel();
//uSING Grid layout
birthdayPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(1,1));
birthdayPanel.add(new JLabel("Select A Department: "));
birthdayPanel.setBackground(new Color(250, 230, 230));
String[] choices = { "","Art","Biology",
"Chemistry","Computer_Science","Economics","English", "History", "Music",
"Mathematics", "Philosophy", "Physics", "Psychology"};
//Creating a comboBox
final JComboBox<String> cb = new JComboBox<String>(choices);
cb.setVisible(true);
birthdayPanel.add(cb);
panel.add(birthdayPanel);
getContentPane().add(panel);
JTextField textField = null;
//Panels for the selection term field
zodiacSign.setEnabled(true);//so that no one can use it as input field
zodiacSign.setEditable(true);//so that no one can edit the zodiac sign
selectionPanel.add(zodiacSign); // adding the zodiacsign textfield to panel
zodiacSign.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(1000, 500)); //setting minimu
dimensions for the zodiac panel
zodiacSign.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(500, 150)); //setting minimum
dimensions for the zodia
selectionPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Your Selection
is"));
selectionPanel.setBackground(new Color(250, 230, 230));
panel.add(selectionPanel);
// Adds an action listener
cb.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent event)
{
JComboBox cb = (JComboBox) event.getSource();
Object selected = cb.getSelectedItem();
textField.setText((String) cb.getSelectedItem());
}
});
getContentPane().add(panel);
}
}

You didn't post your other code, so I guess you forgot to add the listener to the JComboBox.
If this method is declared in an ActionListener object, you can do this to add this listener to your JComboBox
JComboBox cb = new JComboBox(); //sample declaration
cb.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
//do your stuff here
}
});

java not displaying jpanel in jframe after button press

I am simply making a user interface and all i want it to do after the button is pressed is display thanks... I am pretty new to this but from what i see there are no errors? I have tried playing around with the set visible and to no avail...Any help is great thanks
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.border.Border;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JList;
public class GuiApp1 {
public static void main(String args[]) {
String title = (args.length == 0 ? "CheckBox Sample" : args[0]);
JFrame frame = new JFrame(title);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
final JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 1));
Border border = BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Pizza Toppings");
panel.setBorder(border);
JLabel label1 = new JLabel("Enter name below:");
panel.add(label1);
JTextField field = new JTextField(20);
panel.add(field);
JCheckBox check = new JCheckBox("Car0");
panel.add(check);
check = new JCheckBox("Car1");
panel.add(check);
check = new JCheckBox("Car2");
panel.add(check);
check = new JCheckBox("Car3");
panel.add(check);
check = new JCheckBox("Car4");
panel.add(check);
JButton button = new JButton("Submit");
final JPanel listPanel = new JPanel();
listPanel.setVisible(false);
JLabel listLbl = new JLabel("Vegetables:");
listPanel.add(listLbl);
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
{
listPanel.setVisible(!listPanel.isVisible());
panel.setVisible(!panel.isVisible());
}
});
Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane();
contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
contentPane.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.setSize(300, 300);
frame.setResizable(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
}
}

The reason for the vegetables panel not appearing is simple: Xou never add ist to the contentPane.
For the code to function properly you need to add/remove the panels in the ActionListener of the button:
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
{
listPanel.setVisible(!listPanel.isVisible());
panel.setVisible(!panel.isVisible());
if (listPanel.isVisible()) {
contentPane.remove(panel); // Vegetables are visible, so remove the Cars
contentPane.add(listPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER); // And add the Vegetables
} else {
contentPane.remove(listPanel); // Vice versa
contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
}
});
Then, you need to move the ActionListener below the contentPane declaration and make it final.
Also you should consider putting the different checkboxes is different variables, so you can read the state of them. If you don't want to have so many variables hanging you could put them into an array.
JCheckBox[] checks = new JCheckbox[5];
checks[0] = new JCheckBox("Car0");
panel.add(checks[0]);
...

Java Swings Select Tab

I have 4 JPanels. In one of the panel I have a combo Box.Upon selecting "Value A" in combo box Panel2 should be displayed.Similarly if I select "Value B" Panel3 should be selected....
Though action Listener should be used in this context.How to make a call to another tab with in that action listener.
public class SearchComponent
{
....
.
public SearchAddComponent(....)
{
panel = addDropDown(panelList(), "panel", gridbag, h6Box);
panel.addComponentListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
ItemSelectable is = (ItemSelectable)actionEvent.getSource();
Object name=selectedString(is);
}
});
}
public static final Vector<String> panelList(){
List<String> panelList = new ArrayList<String>();
panelList.add("A");
panelList.add("B");
panelList.add("C");
panelList.add("D");
panelList.add("E");
panelList.add("F);
Vector<String> panelVector = null;
Collections.copy(panelVector, panelList);
return panelVector;
}
public Object selectedString(ItemSelectable is) {
Object selected[] = is.getSelectedObjects();
return ((selected.length == 0) ? "null" : (ComboItem)selected[0]);
}
}

Use a Card Layout. See the Swing tutorial on How to Use a Card Layout for a working example.

Try This code:
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.CardLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.border.Border;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.SwingConstants;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
public class CardLayoutExample {
JFrame guiFrame;
CardLayout cards;
JPanel cardPanel;
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Use the event dispatch thread for Swing components
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
new CardLayoutExample();
}
});
}
public CardLayoutExample()
{
guiFrame = new JFrame();
//make sure the program exits when the frame closes
guiFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
guiFrame.setTitle("CardLayout Example");
guiFrame.setSize(400,300);
//This will center the JFrame in the middle of the screen
guiFrame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
guiFrame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
//creating a border to highlight the JPanel areas
Border outline = BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black);
JPanel tabsPanel = new JPanel();
tabsPanel.setBorder(outline);
JButton switchCards = new JButton("Switch Card");
switchCards.setActionCommand("Switch Card");
switchCards.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
{
cards.next(cardPanel);
}
});
tabsPanel.add(switchCards);
guiFrame.add(tabsPanel,BorderLayout.NORTH);
cards = new CardLayout();
cardPanel = new JPanel();
cardPanel.setLayout(cards);
cards.show(cardPanel, "Fruits");
JPanel firstCard = new JPanel();
firstCard.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
addButton(firstCard, "APPLES");
addButton(firstCard, "ORANGES");
addButton(firstCard, "BANANAS");
JPanel secondCard = new JPanel();
secondCard.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
addButton(secondCard, "LEEKS");
addButton(secondCard, "TOMATOES");
addButton(secondCard, "PEAS");
cardPanel.add(firstCard, "Fruits");
cardPanel.add(secondCard, "Veggies");
guiFrame.add(tabsPanel,BorderLayout.NORTH);
guiFrame.add(cardPanel,BorderLayout.CENTER);
guiFrame.setVisible(true);
}
//All the buttons are following the same pattern
//so create them all in one place.
private void addButton(Container parent, String name)
{
JButton but = new JButton(name);
but.setActionCommand(name);
parent.add(but);
}
}

How to update JTextFields in a GridLayout?

I have a MainPanel which uses the Gridlayout. Consequently I have created four JPanel classes for the: NORTH, EAST, CENTER and EAST layouts respectively. I then add all four to my MainPanel.
However, on my WEST panel I use another grid layout to store JButtons and JTextFields. I want to constantly update my JTextFields as they display a value (that changes when a button on another panel is clicked). How do I allow that value to be changed when the JFrame is running?
I tried using paintComponent, but it keeps on adding multiple copies of the same JTextField after each other, as I add it in my paintComponent method. If I remove the add method the values won't update.

Action works well to encapsulate such functionality. In the example below, a number of text fields listen for an ActionEvent received from a single Update button. The common UpdateHandler is derived from AbstractAction.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
/** #see http://stackoverflow.com/a/14947144/230513 */
public class Test {
private JButton button = new JButton("Update");
private void display() {
JFrame f = new JFrame("Test");
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
f.add(createPanel(button), BorderLayout.NORTH);
f.add(createPanel(button), BorderLayout.WEST);
f.add(createPanel(button), BorderLayout.EAST);
f.add(createPanel(button), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
JPanel p = new JPanel();
p.add(button);
f.add(p, BorderLayout.CENTER);
f.getRootPane().setDefaultButton(button);
f.pack();
f.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
f.setVisible(true);
}
private static JPanel createPanel(JButton b) {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
final JTextField text = new JTextField();
b.addActionListener(new UpdateHandler(text));
panel.add(text);
return panel;
}
private static class UpdateHandler extends AbstractAction {
private JTextField text;
private DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("HH:mm:ss.SSS");
public UpdateHandler(JTextField t) {
super("update");
t.setText(df.format(new Date()));
this.text = t;
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
text.setText(df.format(new Date()));
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new Test().display();
}
});
}
}