Develop Reference

Java JFrame: Windows Layout & Embed

I need to define a layout for a Jframe Window, as in the picture above.
Below is my approach.
A Picture from my resources folder (/resources/...jpg) embed inside the middle(main).
Top, Bottom, Left and Right divided in four parts, whereas their content is a labeled button stretched, so I can map some methods on it later, that change the picture inside the main container.
I tried to display the picture, but I get the result you see in my screenshot. I can't see it inside my main container and I receive no error message.
I don't know if this is because of my wrong approach of using JFrame.
Below you can see my code, I'd be happy if you could help me solving my wrong design layout pattern too.
MyFrame.java
package ms0.gui;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
public class MyFrame extends JFrame {
public MyFrame () {
setTitle("This is an example title");
setSize(600,600);
setLocation(750,640);
setVisible(true);
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
//Main Container
Container mainContainer = this.getContentPane();
mainContainer.setLayout(new BorderLayout(8,6));
mainContainer.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
this.getRootPane().setBorder(BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(4, 4, 4, 4, Color.green));
//JButton Positions
JButton topButton = new JButton("Oben");
JButton bottomButton = new JButton("Unten");
JButton leftButton = new JButton("Links");
JButton rightButton = new JButton("Rechts");
//Panel Top
JPanel topPanel = new JPanel();
topPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.BLACK, 3));
topPanel.setBackground(Color.ORANGE);
topPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout(5));
topPanel.add(topButton);
mainContainer.add(topPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
//Panel Middle
JPanel middlePanel = new JPanel();
middlePanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.black, 3));
middlePanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout(4,4,4));
middlePanel.setBackground(Color.cyan);
//Grid Panel Right
JPanel rightPanel = new JPanel();
rightPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout(4,4,4));
rightPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.black, 3));
rightPanel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
rightPanel.add(rightButton);
//Grid Panel Left
JPanel gridPanel = new JPanel();
gridPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(4,1,5,5));
gridPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.black, 3));
gridPanel.setBackground(Color.red);
gridPanel.add(leftButton);
//Center Box
JLabel label = new JLabel("Center Box", SwingConstants.CENTER);
label.setOpaque(true);
label.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.black,3));
middlePanel.add(gridPanel);
mainContainer.add(label);
mainContainer.add(middlePanel, BorderLayout.WEST);
mainContainer.add(rightPanel, BorderLayout.EAST);
//Panel Bottom
JPanel bottomPanel = new JPanel();
bottomPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout(3));
bottomPanel.add(bottomButton);
bottomPanel.setBackground(Color.magenta);
bottomPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.BLUE, 3));
mainContainer.add(bottomPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
//Siegel
String filepath = "/resources/siegel.jpg";
int picWidth = 150;
int picHeight = 150;
ImageIcon image1 = new ImageIcon(getClass().getResource(filepath));
//Image scaledImage = img.getScaledInstance(picWidth, picHeight, Image.SCALE_DEFAULT);
//ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon(scaledImage);
mainContainer.add(new JButton(image1));
}
}

So, as a very basic example, nothing but BorderLayout
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
public class MyFrame extends JFrame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
MyFrame frame = new MyFrame();
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public MyFrame() {
setTitle("This is an example title");
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(new JButton("Top button (stretched)"), BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(new JButton("Left button (stretched)"), BorderLayout.WEST);
add(new JButton("Right button (stretched)"), BorderLayout.EAST);
add(new JButton("Bottom button (stretched)"), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
JLabel label = new JLabel("Picture");
label.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(100, 100, 100, 100));
add(label);
}
}
Remember, simple is often best.
Now, if you absolutely, positively must have the label/picture in another container, you can simply make use of GridBagLayout, as it will centre the child component(s) by default, for example...
JLabel label = new JLabel("Picture");
label.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(100, 100, 100, 100));
// Automatic center position
JPanel mainPane = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
mainPane.add(label);
add(mainPane);
And you don't have to use EmptyBorder. GridBagLayout will allow to supply insets which will do the same thing

Setsize on joptionpane box

I have the following code. I added a textArea in my panel in joptionpane, but the frame size of box is so small and textArea is not fit in it. So, how can i largen the joptionpane box.
JPanel p = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5,5));
JPanel labels = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1,2,2));
labels.add(new JLabel("Name", SwingConstants.RIGHT));
labels.add(new JLabel("Description", SwingConstants.RIGHT));
p.add(labels, BorderLayout.WEST);
JPanel controls = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1,4,4));
JTextField name = new JTextField();
controls.add(name);
JTextArea description = new JTextArea();
// description.addAncestorListener(new RequestFocusListener(false));
controls.add(description);
p.add(controls, BorderLayout.CENTER);
int result = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, p, "Create Atomic Action", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION);
if(result == JOptionPane.OK_OPTION)
{
System.out.println("Yes press Name"+name.getText()+" "+description.getText());
}else
System.out.println("Cancel press");

Besides setting the preferred size, as #dpassy suggested, I added a ScrollPane component, so that you can add more text (more than can be shown on the dialog box) and scroll down to the bottom. I, also, changed the layout from GridLayout to BorderLayout so that the TextBox doesn't grow unnecessarily to fill up the space.
package test;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingConstants;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JPanel p = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
JPanel labels = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
labels.add(new JLabel("Name", SwingConstants.RIGHT),BorderLayout.NORTH);
labels.add(new JLabel("Description", SwingConstants.RIGHT), BorderLayout.CENTER);
p.add(labels, BorderLayout.WEST);
JPanel controls = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JTextField name = new JTextField();
controls.add(name, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JTextArea description = new JTextArea();
JScrollPane sp = new JScrollPane(description);
// description.addAncestorListener(new RequestFocusListener(false));
sp.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 100));
controls.add(sp, BorderLayout.CENTER);
p.add(controls, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, p, "Create Atomic Action", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION);
}
}
As a result, it will show this dialog:
And when you add text inside the TextArea it will show the scroll bar too.

JPanel's border make JLabel disappear

There is a frame. There a panel in that frame with BoxLayout. In that panel there is a ScrollPane. There is another panel in ScrollPane with SpringLayout. There is a label in that inner panel.
Here is a code:
package test;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.SpringLayout;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
class MainPanel extends JPanel {
MainPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
BoxLayout boxLayout = new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS);
panel.setLayout(boxLayout);
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
JPanel innerPanel = new JPanel();
SpringLayout springLayout = new SpringLayout();
innerPanel.setLayout(springLayout);
JLabel label = new JLabel("test");
innerPanel.add(label);
springLayout.putConstraint(SpringLayout.WEST, label, 5, SpringLayout.WEST, innerPanel);
springLayout.putConstraint(SpringLayout.NORTH, label, 5, SpringLayout.NORTH, innerPanel);
//innerPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
innerPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 100));
panel.add(innerPanel);
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(panel);
this.add(scrollPane);
}
}
class MainFrame extends JFrame {
MainFrame() {
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.add(new MainPanel());
this.pack();
this.setVisible(true);
}
}
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new MainFrame();
}
});
}
}
Label "test" is visible as expected. But when I add a border to inner panel (uncomment the line, see below) the label is disappeare.
//innerPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
Can someone explane why?

Try to change
innerPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
to
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
I hope that's what you meant to do & it fixed your problem :)

Resizing jpanel according to the components present in it

In the below example, in the west side of the border layout, there is a parent panel which has a BoxLayout and couple of panels inside. The problem is that the west panel covers the whole area from top to bottom. The FlowLayout used for child panels inside the parent panel consume a lot of area. Is it possible to compress each JPanel according to the components? Also, it should remain the same even when the window is maximized?
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JButton;
public class Sample extends JFrame {
private JPanel contentPane;
private JTextField textField;
private JTextField textField_1;
/**
* Launch the application.
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
Sample frame = new Sample();
frame.setVisible(true);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
/**
* Create the frame.
*/
public Sample() {
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setBounds(100, 100, 450, 300);
contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
contentPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout(0, 0));
setContentPane(contentPane);
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JLabel lblNewLabel = new JLabel("New label");
panel.add(lblNewLabel);
JPanel panel_1 = new JPanel();
contentPane.add(panel_1, BorderLayout.WEST);
panel_1.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel_1, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel panel_2 = new JPanel();
panel_1.add(panel_2);
textField = new JTextField();
panel_2.add(textField);
textField.setColumns(2);
textField_1 = new JTextField();
panel_2.add(textField_1);
textField_1.setColumns(2);
JPanel panel_3 = new JPanel();
panel_1.add(panel_3);
JCheckBox chckbxNewCheckBox = new JCheckBox("New check box");
panel_3.add(chckbxNewCheckBox);
JPanel panel_4 = new JPanel();
panel_1.add(panel_4);
JButton btnNewButton = new JButton("New");
panel_4.add(btnNewButton);
JButton btnNewButton_1 = new JButton("New");
panel_4.add(btnNewButton_1);
}
}

One approach is to add panel_1 to an enclosing panel. The default FlowLayout conforms itself to the preferred size of the enclosed components when you pack() the enclosing Window. I've added a gray panel to CENTER as a placeholder; resize the frame to see the effect.
JPanel flowPanel = new JPanel();
flowPanel.add(panel_1);
As tested:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JButton;
public class Sample extends JFrame {
private JPanel contentPane;
private JTextField textField;
private JTextField textField_1;
/**
* Launch the application.
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
Sample frame = new Sample();
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
/**
* Create the frame.
*/
public Sample() {
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
contentPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout(0, 0));
setContentPane(contentPane);
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JLabel lblNewLabel = new JLabel("New label");
panel.add(lblNewLabel);
JPanel panel_1 = new JPanel();
panel_1.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel_1, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel panel_2 = new JPanel();
panel_1.add(panel_2);
textField = new JTextField();
panel_2.add(textField);
textField.setColumns(2);
textField_1 = new JTextField();
panel_2.add(textField_1);
textField_1.setColumns(2);
JPanel panel_3 = new JPanel();
panel_1.add(panel_3);
JCheckBox chckbxNewCheckBox = new JCheckBox("New check box");
panel_3.add(chckbxNewCheckBox);
JPanel panel_4 = new JPanel();
panel_1.add(panel_4);
JButton btnNewButton = new JButton("New");
panel_4.add(btnNewButton);
JButton btnNewButton_1 = new JButton("New");
panel_4.add(btnNewButton_1);
JPanel flowPanel = new JPanel();
flowPanel.add(panel_1);
contentPane.add(flowPanel, BorderLayout.WEST);
contentPane.add(new JPanel(){
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(320, 240);
}
#Override
public Color getBackground() {
return Color.lightGray;
}
}, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
}

Java: Objects in JFrame are messed up

I'm creating a simple Java JFrame in Eclipse with a label, 2 radio buttons with 2 textfields, and a JButton. When i run the program, the objects inside it are messed up, the buttons and textfields don't show up and sometimes a textfield takes the entire size of the frame. However, when I minimize/maximize the frame and then restore it, they work normally. Here's the code:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.Box;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JRadioButton;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
public class myframe {
public static void main(String s[]) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Title");
frame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0);
}
});
// This is an empty content area in the frame
JLabel jlbempty = new JLabel("");
jlbempty.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(500, 400));
frame.getContentPane().add(jlbempty, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setBounds(0, 0, 500, 400);
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
frame.getContentPane().add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
panel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(0,5)));
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(10,10,10,10));
JLabel label = new JLabel("My label");
panel.add(label);
JPanel buttonPane = new JPanel();
frame.add(buttonPane);
buttonPane.setLayout(new BoxLayout(buttonPane, BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS));
buttonPane.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10));
JRadioButton cb = new JRadioButton("1");
buttonPane.add(cb);
JTextField tf = new JTextField(0);
tf.setText("");
buttonPane.add(tf);
JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
frame.add(panel3);
panel3.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel3, BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS));
panel3.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10));
JRadioButton cb2 = new JRadioButton("2");
panel3.add(cb2);
JTextField tf2 = new JTextField(0);
tf.setText("");
panel3.add(tf2);
JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
JButton button = new JButton("click me");
frame.add(panel2);
panel2.add(button);
button.addActionListener(new Action());
panel.add(buttonPane);
panel.add(panel3);
panel.add(panel2);
}
static class Action implements ActionListener{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
JFrame frame2 = new JFrame("Clicked");
frame2.setVisible(true);
frame2.setSize(100, 200);
JLabel label2 = new JLabel("You clicked me");
JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
frame2.add(panel2);
frame2.add(label2);
}
}
}

In your main method you need to do this at the very end:
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);

You should call frame.pack(); again after adding all the components, so that all the container elements can resize to fit their components best.
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/awt/Window.html#pack()
You should also call frame.SetVisible(true); at the very end, so the form is only displayed ones all components are loaded (otherwise you can see a black box while it loads).