Develop Reference

Swing JScrollPane resizing to fit the viewport panel

I tried a lot of layout managers but none could solve my problem:
I want the items in a scrollPane to keep their size (preferred or minimum) and not being resized (reduced) to fit the viewport Panel. Since if it is a JTextArea, and if the text area has blank space and it is bigger then the viewport, it would reduce it so the blank text area won't be shown. I want the blank text area to be shown for appearance issues.
Im stacking one item after another using BoxLayout, and it seems to me that for text areas the setMinimum method fails.
If the text area has blank space, then the scrollbar of the ScrollPane won't appear, instead it only appears it there are no blank space left.
Any solution?
JScrollPane materialPane = new FScrollPane();
this.materialPaneView = new TPanel();
this.materialPaneView.setMinimumSize(new Dimension((int)(WIDTH*0.95), (int)(HEIGHT/2)));
this.materialPaneView.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this.materialPaneView, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
materialPane.setViewportView(materialPaneView);
materialPane.setMinimumSize(new Dimension((int)(WIDTH*0.95), (int)(HEIGHT/2)));
for(Material mat: this.unit.getMaterial()){
this.addMaterial(mat);
}
centerPanel.add(sectionPane);
centerPanel.add(exercisePane);
centerPanel.add(materialPane);
this.add(upperPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
this.add(centerPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
public void addMaterial(Material mat){
JTextField matName = new JTextField(30);
JPanel fieldButtonPanel = new TPanel();
fieldButtonPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(1,2));
JPanel fieldPanel = new TPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));
JPanel deleteMatButtonPanel = new TPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.RIGHT));
matName.setText(mat.getName());
matName.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(FFont.def.getSize()*20, 30));
fieldPanel.add(matName);
JButton deleteMat = new JButton("Delete Material");
deleteMatButtonPanel.add(deleteMat);
fieldButtonPanel.add(fieldPanel);
fieldButtonPanel.add(deleteMatButtonPanel);
fieldButtonPanel.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
JTextArea matText = new FTextArea(mat.getDesc(), (int)(WIDTH*0.95), (int)(HEIGHT/3.4));
matText.setMinimumSize(new Dimension((int)(WIDTH*0.95), (int)(HEIGHT/3.5)));
/*matText.setMaximumSize(new Dimension((int)(WIDTH*0.95), (int)(HEIGHT/3.4)));*/
matText.setText(mat.getDesc());
matText.setAlignmentX(LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
this.materialPaneView.add(fieldButtonPanel);
this.materialPaneView.add(matText);
matName.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
mat.setName(matName.getText());
}
});
HEIGHT and WIDTH are constants, and TPanel FScrollPane are my predefined transparent panels. The BoxLayout panel is the viewport of a scrollPane, and still, it would resize the text areas.

I am not sure i get what you are asking for so please tell me if i totally missed the point...
As far as i know the Viewport size is controlled by the component inside the JScrollPane and the JScrollPane size wont change no matter what happens to the viewport.
You either want to:
A) Resize the JScrollPane to the same size as it's content.
I would implement listeners to look for the content size change and resize the ScrollPane accordingly but you need to pay attention to resize the whole Hierarchy too.
B) You want to resize the viewport so that it fits in the JScrollPane? Y'know without scrollbars.
I had this problem and fixed it by using a ScrollablePanel component. Check this answer, follow the link to download the .class and use it to use a JPanel that resizes to fit the ScrollPane.
Those arent very detailed answers but i will need more information about what you are trying to do before expanding on it. And your code isnt complete, always share a code that we can CTRL+C/V and readily verify the problem in our end.

JLabel text Y paint coordinate

The default JLabel draws its text at the middle of its bounds. For example, if height of the label is 20, font height is 14, the Y coordinate would be (20 - 14)/2 = 3. Like this:
What should I do if want to align the text to the TOP of the JLabel bounds? Like this:
UPD:
public class LabelTest extends JFrame {
public LabelTest() {
setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setSize(500, 500);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
JPanel contentPanel = new JPanel();
contentPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(contentPanel, BoxLayout.X_AXIS));
contentPanel.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(10));
final JLabel label1 = new JLabel("JLabel");
label1.setVerticalAlignment(SwingConstants.TOP); // by the answer of Kevin Workman, doesn't help
label1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.RED));
label1.setFont(new Font("Arial", Font.PLAIN, 14));
contentPanel.add(label1);
setContentPane(contentPanel);
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new LabelTest();
}
});
}
}

You should be packing the frame. If you so this, there should be no unused space in the label. If you want empty space, use an empty border
label.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(0, 0, 5, 0));
top, left, bottom, right
Also, don't set sizes, Use Layout Mangers and let them do the sizing for you. Setting sizes will give you. Setting sizes will give you a rigid look that may look and perform differently on different platforms. Layout Managers will allow your GUI to be more fluid and adaptable to different environments.
See Laying out Components Within a Container for more information on working with layouts
Also see Should I avoid the use of set(Preferred|Maximum|Minimum)Size methods in Java Swing?

As always, the API is your best friend: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/javax/swing/JLabel.html#setVerticalAlignment(int)
Edit- Based on your updated SSCCE, the problem is that your BoxLayout is shrinking the JLabel as small as it will go, so the vertical text position doesn't really matter. Try using a BorderLayout to check that.
The problem is that the insets of the JLabel are adding a small space to the top and bottom of the JLabel, so your text looks centered even though it's at the top. Here's a fix for the insets problem: How to change gap in swing label

How to layout multiple panels on a jFrame? (java)

I am in the process of making my own java socket game. My game is painting alright to the full screen (where it says "paint graphics here", but im painting to the whole jframe at the moment). I want to add a textbox with a scroll bar for displaying only text, not taking any input and another textbox to take text inputs from the user and then a button to send the text, for chat purposes. But onto my question, how do I even start to lay this out? I understand I need a layout, but can someone help me on this? Here is my code at the moment (this code only sets up painting to the whole screen at the moment, need to divide the screen up now like I have in the picture above):
public class Setup extends JFrame implements Runnable{
JPanel panel;
JFrame window;
public Setup(Starter start, JFrame window){
window.setSize(600,500);
window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setResizable(false);
panel = new Display(start);
this.window = window;
}
public void run(){
window.getContentPane().add(panel);
window.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
window.setVisible(true);
}
}
"new Display(start)" - this extends jpanel, its basically where I paint everything graphics wise.
In addition, I've seen people add in different panels but I cant have them be the same size. Like in the picture, the "paint graphics here" panel is the biggest one, and so on.

The JPanel is actually only a container where you can put different elements in it (even other JPanels). So in your case I would suggest one big JPanel as some sort of main container for your window. That main panel you assign a Layout that suits your needs ( here is an introduction to the layouts).
After you set the layout to your main panel you can add the paint panel and the other JPanels you want (like those with the text in it..).
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel paintPanel = new JPanel();
JPanel textPanel = new JPanel();
mainPanel.add(paintPanel);
mainPanel.add(textPanel);
This is just an example that sorts all sub panels vertically (Y-Axis). So if you want some other stuff at the bottom of your mainPanel (maybe some icons or buttons) that should be organized with another layout (like a horizontal layout), just create again a new JPanel as a container for all the other stuff and set setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.X_AXIS).
As you will find out, the layouts are quite rigid and it may be difficult to find the best layout for your panels. So don't give up, read the introduction (the link above) and look at the pictures – this is how I do it :)
Or you can just use NetBeans to write your program. There you have a pretty easy visual editor (drag and drop) to create all sorts of Windows and Frames. (only understanding the code afterwards is ... tricky sometimes.)
EDIT
Since there are some many people interested in this question, I wanted to provide a complete example of how to layout a JFrame to make it look like OP wants it to.
The class is called MyFrame and extends swings JFrame
public class MyFrame extends javax.swing.JFrame{
// these are the components we need.
private final JSplitPane splitPane; // split the window in top and bottom
private final JPanel topPanel; // container panel for the top
private final JPanel bottomPanel; // container panel for the bottom
private final JScrollPane scrollPane; // makes the text scrollable
private final JTextArea textArea; // the text
private final JPanel inputPanel; // under the text a container for all the input elements
private final JTextField textField; // a textField for the text the user inputs
private final JButton button; // and a "send" button
public MyFrame(){
// first, lets create the containers:
// the splitPane devides the window in two components (here: top and bottom)
// users can then move the devider and decide how much of the top component
// and how much of the bottom component they want to see.
splitPane = new JSplitPane();
topPanel = new JPanel(); // our top component
bottomPanel = new JPanel(); // our bottom component
// in our bottom panel we want the text area and the input components
scrollPane = new JScrollPane(); // this scrollPane is used to make the text area scrollable
textArea = new JTextArea(); // this text area will be put inside the scrollPane
// the input components will be put in a separate panel
inputPanel = new JPanel();
textField = new JTextField(); // first the input field where the user can type his text
button = new JButton("send"); // and a button at the right, to send the text
// now lets define the default size of our window and its layout:
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 400)); // let's open the window with a default size of 400x400 pixels
// the contentPane is the container that holds all our components
getContentPane().setLayout(new GridLayout()); // the default GridLayout is like a grid with 1 column and 1 row,
// we only add one element to the window itself
getContentPane().add(splitPane); // due to the GridLayout, our splitPane will now fill the whole window
// let's configure our splitPane:
splitPane.setOrientation(JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT); // we want it to split the window verticaly
splitPane.setDividerLocation(200); // the initial position of the divider is 200 (our window is 400 pixels high)
splitPane.setTopComponent(topPanel); // at the top we want our "topPanel"
splitPane.setBottomComponent(bottomPanel); // and at the bottom we want our "bottomPanel"
// our topPanel doesn't need anymore for this example. Whatever you want it to contain, you can add it here
bottomPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(bottomPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS)); // BoxLayout.Y_AXIS will arrange the content vertically
bottomPanel.add(scrollPane); // first we add the scrollPane to the bottomPanel, so it is at the top
scrollPane.setViewportView(textArea); // the scrollPane should make the textArea scrollable, so we define the viewport
bottomPanel.add(inputPanel); // then we add the inputPanel to the bottomPanel, so it under the scrollPane / textArea
// let's set the maximum size of the inputPanel, so it doesn't get too big when the user resizes the window
inputPanel.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 75)); // we set the max height to 75 and the max width to (almost) unlimited
inputPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(inputPanel, BoxLayout.X_AXIS)); // X_Axis will arrange the content horizontally
inputPanel.add(textField); // left will be the textField
inputPanel.add(button); // and right the "send" button
pack(); // calling pack() at the end, will ensure that every layout and size we just defined gets applied before the stuff becomes visible
}
public static void main(String args[]){
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run(){
new MyFrame().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
Please be aware that this is only an example and there are multiple approaches to layout a window. It all depends on your needs and if you want the content to be resizable / responsive. Another really good approach would be the GridBagLayout which can handle quite complex layouting, but which is also quite complex to learn.

You'll want to use a number of layout managers to help you achieve the basic results you want.
Check out A Visual Guide to Layout Managers for a comparision.
You could use a GridBagLayout but that's one of the most complex (and powerful) layout managers available in the JDK.
You could use a series of compound layout managers instead.
I'd place the graphics component and text area on a single JPanel, using a BorderLayout, with the graphics component in the CENTER and the text area in the SOUTH position.
I'd place the text field and button on a separate JPanel using a GridBagLayout (because it's the simplest I can think of to achieve the over result you want)
I'd place these two panels onto a third, master, panel, using a BorderLayout, with the first panel in the CENTER and the second at the SOUTH position.
But that's me

Overriding the paint method in JTextField to draw text

I am wishing to draw a number onto a JTextField by overwriting the paint method. So that when the user edits the text field the number doesn't disappear. However, at the moment, the number isn't appearing at all, I have tried:
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
if(number != 0){
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.drawString(String.valueOf(number),0,0);
}
}
Any ideas, is this even possible?

Try to play with Y position in the g.drawString(String.valueOf(number),0,0); call. E.g. use getHeight()/2

..when the user edits the text field the number doesn't disappear.
As pointed out by #mKorbel, there is no need to override a JTextField in order to get red numbers, simply configure it using the public methods. OTOH..
g.drawString(String.valueOf(number),0,0);
If this is really all about numbers, perhaps the best approach is to use a JSpinner with a SpinnerNumberModel, and set a custom SpinnerUI.

Why don't you just add a small JLabel to the front of the JTextField? The JLabel could contain the number, and because it isn't editable it will always be there no matter what the user changes in the JTextField. You could also format the JLabel to make it red by calling setForeground(Color.RED);. This might be a much simpler solution?
For example, instead of doing this...
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JTextField textfield = new JTextField("Hello");
panel.add(textfield,BorderLayout.CENTER);
You might do something like this...
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JTextField textfield = new JTextField("Hello");
panel.add(textfield,BorderLayout.CENTER);
JLabel label = new JLabel("1.");
label.setForeground(Color.RED);
panel.add(label,BorderLayout.WEST);
Which adds a red JLabel to the left of the JTextField, and because you're using BorderLayout for the JPanel then it automatically makes the JLabel the smallest it can possibly be.

maybe there no reason override paintComponent() for JTextField, instead of use
JTextField.setBackground()
JTextField.setForeground()
JTextField.setFont()
JTextField.setHorizontalAlignment(javax.swing.SwingConstants.LEFT)
some hacks are possible by put there Html colored or special formatted text
EDIT
maybe this question is about
filtering KeyEvents in the Document / DocumentListener
or
JFormattedTextField with Number Formatter

Setting a 1 or 2-character text on a JButton 32x32

I want to set the text on a JButton that is size 32x32 but it only shows "...". yeah I know you could see the text if you make the button bigger, but how do you make the text be shown on a 32x32 jbutton? The text is only 1 or 2 digits(characters), it is actually a counter. Thanks

The insets are probably crowding out the text...
try
button.setMargin(new Insets(1, 1, 1, 1));
edit: Also, use a smaller font.
edit2: you can also control the insets for all buttons:
UIManager.put("Button.margin", new Insets(1, 1, 1, 1));

I don't think you can, this is managed directly by the look'n'feel' that is used by Java. You could try by changing it to another one to see if there is one with different insets. You could try changing them by setting smaller insects programatically.
A more complex way would be to subclass the JButton class and provide a custom drawing implementation but I think you will lose all the other cool effect.

As per my idea , its quite simple to making GUI application easier.I am writing some code below it may help you .
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
JFrame frm=new JFrame("Manoj Button Test");
frm.setVisible(true);
frm.setSize(500,500);
Container cnt=frm.getContentPane();
//You can add any text to the JButton
JButton btn=new JButton("Hello Button");
cnt.add(btn);
//2nd type of example
JButton btn2=new JButton();
int number_btntext=4;
btn2.setText(String.valueOf(number_btntext));
cnt.add(btn2);
}
In the above code I have set text to GUI JButton.