Develop Reference

GUI components not aligning vertically inside JPanel in Card layout

Image of my GUI.
I am trying to add components to two JPanel containers and then add those panels as cards. I want the checkboxes after labels in a vertical manner. The problem I am facing is that the components are coming in a grid of two columns:
public class MyFrame extends JFrame {
MyFrame(int width, int height, String title){
setTitle(title);
setSize(width, height);
JPanel internalJP1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(5,1));
JLabel hobby = new JLabel("Enter your hobbies:");
JCheckBox cricket = new JCheckBox("Cricket");
JCheckBox music = new JCheckBox("Music");
JCheckBox drawing = new JCheckBox("Drawing");
JCheckBox dancing = new JCheckBox("Dancing");
JCheckBox other = new JCheckBox("Other");
internalJP1.add(hobby);
internalJP1.add(cricket);
internalJP1.add(music);
internalJP1.add(drawing);
internalJP1.add(dancing);
internalJP1.add(other);
JPanel internalJP2 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(4,1));
JLabel payment = new JLabel("Payment by:");
ButtonGroup buttonGroup = new ButtonGroup();
JRadioButton cheque = new JRadioButton("Cheque", false);
JRadioButton cash = new JRadioButton("Cash", false);
JRadioButton debitCard = new JRadioButton("Debit Card", false);
JRadioButton creditCard = new JRadioButton("Credit Card", false);
buttonGroup.add(cheque);
buttonGroup.add(cash);
buttonGroup.add(debitCard);
buttonGroup.add(creditCard);
internalJP2.add(payment);
internalJP2.add(cheque);
internalJP2.add(cash);
internalJP2.add(debitCard);
internalJP2.add(creditCard);
Container c = getContentPane();
CardLayout cl = new CardLayout();
c.setLayout(cl);
c.add(internalJP1,"crd1");
c.add(internalJP2,"crd2");
cl.show(c,"crd1");
}
}
public class Jtest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyFrame frame = new MyFrame(300,200,"FirstFrame");
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}

Just change this line of code (in constructor of class MyFrame)
JPanel internalJP1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(5,1));
to this
JPanel internalJP1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1));
i.e. replace 5 with 0
I find GridLayout to not be intuitive. When the row parameter of GridLayout constructor is zero, then each row will contain exactly the number of columns indicated. Hence new GridLayout(0, 1) will ensure that each row (in the grid) will contain exactly one column and it will create as many rows as required in order to ensure this.
Note that GridLayout is not the only layout manager to use when you want to place GUI components in a single column. Swing also has BoxLayout, GridBagLayout, GroupLayout and SpringLayout.
There are also third party layout managers including JGoodies and MiG Layout.

The fact that you are using a CardLayout to view one panel or the other does not affect the layout of those panels. Your problem is entirely related to the layout of the 2 panels.
There are 2 easy ways to fix the panels to make them 1-column:
fix their number of rows so that it is >= the number of elements that you actually add. Now, you have JPanel internalJP1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(5,1)); - but add 6 elements. If you change it to JPanel internalJP1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(6,1));, you will solve the problem for your 1st panel. The same fix applies to your second panel. Even better, use 0 to make the layout use as many rows as it needs (see docs).
use a vertical BoxLayout and do not worry about the number of elements at all - just stack them vertically. This has the additional advantage that they look better, because even if you give the layout more size than it needs, they still stack together nicely: JPanel internalJP1 = new JPanel(); internalJP1.setLayout(new BoxLayout(internalJP1, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));

When i increase my GUI window size to full the components go back to standard layout

When i increase the window size to full, my components goes back to standard layout(jtable,button1,button2,button3) and so on. so i wonder if my code is right and how i can decrease the window size.
JTabbedPane jtabbed = new JTabbedPane(JTabbedPane.TOP);
JPanel panel=new JPanel();
tabellinnhold = new DefaultTableModel(defaulttabell,kolonnenavn);
posttabell = new JTable(tabellinnhold);
rullefelt = new JScrollPane(posttabell);
koble = new JButton("koble til");
lukke = new JButton("lukke");
hente = new JButton("Hente data");
avslutt = new JButton("Avslutt");
panel.add(rullefelt,BorderLayout.CENTER);
panel.add(koble,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(lukke,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(hente,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(avslutt,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
//action listener
koble.addActionListener(this);
lukke.addActionListener(this);
hente.addActionListener(this);
avslutt.addActionListener(this);
jtabbed.add("se post",panel);
add(jtabbed);
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Grensesnitt p = new Grensesnitt();
p.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
p.GUIcode();
p.setTitle("title");
p.setSize(500,700);
p.setVisible(true);

JPanel panel=new JPanel();
...
panel.add(rullefelt,BorderLayout.CENTER);
panel.add(koble,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(lukke,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(hente,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(avslutt,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
The default layout manager for a JPanel is a FlowLayout which will simply display all the components on a single line.
You can't just use the BorderLayout constraints and expect it to work.
If you want to use a BorderLayout then the code should be:
//JPanel panel=new JPanel();
JPanel panel=new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
Also, you can't add 4 components to the "SOUTH" of the BorderLayout. You can only add a single component. So you need to create a child panel and add your components to that first:
JPanel south = new JPanel();
south.add(koble);
south.add(lukke);
south.add(hente);
south.add(avslutt);
panel.add(south, Borderlayout.SOUTH);
Read the section from the Swing tutorial on Using Layout Manager for more information and working examples to get you started.
Keep a link to the tutorial handy for examples of all Swing basics.

JFrame layout with radio buttons

This is my code:
frame2 = new JFrame("Confirmation");
frame2.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JRadioButton y,n,c;
panel = new JPanel();
ButtonGroup buttonGroup = new ButtonGroup();
y = new JRadioButton("Add");
buttonGroup.add(y);
panel.add(y);
n = new JRadioButton("Update");
buttonGroup.add(n);
panel.add(n);
c = new JRadioButton("Delete");
buttonGroup.add(c);
panel.add(c);
y.setSelected(true);
b1=new JButton();
b1.setBounds(300,100,2,2);
b1.setIcon(new ImageIcon(searchresult.class.getResource("/images/yes.png")));
b2=new JButton();
b2.setBounds(100,10,2,2);
b2.setIcon(new ImageIcon(searchresult.class.getResource("/images/no.png")));
panel.add(b1);
panel.add(b2);
frame2.add(panel);
frame2.setSize(182,150);
frame2.setVisible(true);
Right now this gives me the following output
whereas I want this
with an increased width but I am not able to do it..Could anyone provide me with further details that could help me

JPanel uses a FlowLayout by default, which, as the name suggests, layouts out components one after the after, in a flow...
Two choices. Use a compound layout, using BorderLayout as the base, create JPanel that uses a GridLayout for the radio buttons (using 0 rows and 1 column), add this to the CENTER position of the base panel.
Create a second JPanel using a FlowLayout and your buttons to it. Add this to the SOUTH position of the base pane.
Second choice is to use a GridBagLayout
Take a look at Laying out Components within a Container for more details

JTextArea that needs to grow with parent panel

I want to make my JTextArea field as big as it can be in current JPanel. How to do that?
Now it is like this:
JPanel statusBar = new StatusBar(project);
JTextArea outputBox = new JTextArea(1, 50);
outputBox.setEditable(true);
statusBar.add(outputBox);

The default layout manager of JPanel is FlowLayout, which wouldn't let the text area fill the entire available space in the panel.
Using BorderLayout should work well:
statusBar.setLayout( new BorderLayout() );
JTextArea outputBox = new JTextArea(1, 50);
outputBox.setEditable(true);
statusBar.add(outputBox, BorderLayout.CENTER);

You need a layout manager on the JPanel. If its just the JTextArea contained within it and you need to maximise it you can use a simple GridLayout:
statusBar.setLayout(new GridLayout(1,1));

Java Positioning a list on a GUI

I'm trying to add a JList to a GUI, but am wondering how to position it? I want it to appear on the right hand side of the TextArea for data that will be sent to the GUI for selection.
Can anyone suggest how to do this? Here is the code (note: very new to Java and GUI's)
protected static void createAndShowGUI() {
GUI predict = new GUI();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Phone V1.0");
frame.setContentPane(predict.createContentPane());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(300, 400));
frame.setVisible(true); // Otherwise invisible window
}
private JPanel createContentPane() {
JPanel pane = new JPanel();
TextArea = new JTextArea(5, 10);
TextArea.setEditable(false);
TextArea.setLineWrap(true);
TextArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
TextArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
pane.setLayout(new BoxLayout(pane, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
//Adds the buttons from Top to Bottom
String[] items = {"dsfsdfd"};
list = new JList(items);
JScrollPane scrollingList = new JScrollPane(list);
int orient = list.getLayoutOrientation();
JPanel window = new JPanel();
pane.add(window);
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(5, 3));
JButton[] buttons = new JButton[] {
new JButton("Yes"),
new JButton(""),
new JButton("Clr"),
new JButton("1"),
new JButton("2abc"),
new JButton("3def"),
new JButton("4ghi"),
new JButton("5jkl"),
new JButton("6mno"),
new JButton("7pqrs"),
new JButton("8tuv"),
new JButton("9wxyz"),
new JButton("*+"),
new JButton("0_"),
new JButton("^#")
}; // Array Initialiser
for (int i = 0; i < buttons.length; i++) {
buttonPanel.add(buttons[i]);
buttons[i].addActionListener(this);
}
pane.add(TextArea);
pane.add(list);
pane.add(buttonPanel);
return pane;
}

Read the section from the Swing tutorial on Using Layout Mananger. There is no need to only use a single layout manager. You can nest layout managers to get the desired effect.

Wrap your TextArea and list in a new panel with a BorderLayout manager. Basically the BorderLayout manager lets you arrange components using north, south, east, west and center coordinates. The components at the center takes all available space as the parent container has more space available to it.
private JPanel createContentPane() {
JPanel pane = new JPanel(); //this is your main panel
JPanel textAreaPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout()); //the wrapper
//Some more code...
//Then at the end
//Make your TextArea take the center
textAreaPanel.add(TextArea, BorderLayout.CENTER);
//And the list to the east
textAreaPanel.add(list, BorderLayout.EAST);
pane.add(textAreaPanel);
pane.add(buttonPanel);
return pane;
}
The cool thing is that you can nest panels inside other panels, adding them different layout managers to get your desired layout.
On an unrelated note, try to follow Java naming conventions. Instead of JTextArea TextArea use JTextArea textArea. It makes it easier for you and people reading your code to understand it.

You could use a layout manager like Mig Layout for that kind of positionning.
(source: miglayout.com)

I could recommend you FormLayout. Before I found this layout I had a real pain with GridBagLayout. FormLayout is more powerful and much more convenient to learn and use and it is free. Give it a chance.

As others suggested, familiarize yourself with the concept of layout managers. There are several that come with the standard Swing API and several good 3rd party ones out there.
In addition, you will want to add the JList to a scroll pane (JScrollPane). You may want to consider adding it to a split pane (JSplitPane). And by consider I don't mean "do it because some guy on the net said so" I mean "do it if it makes sense for your end users".