Develop Reference

Is there a way to put JPanel on a JPanel?

I'm trying to put a JPanel inside OR on a JPanel, whichever may be the case, ultimately I just want this to work like this
As you can see on the picture, the red line is a JFrame and it has 2 JPanels inside it, on the green JPanel there are some different JPanels.
I need help with the green JPanel and the little JPanels inside it. Is there any way to make it work like this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
==============EDIT 1==============
So here is some code, to show you what I've done so far with the help of #hfontanez.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.io.IOException;
public class Main
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//JFrame
JFrame jframe = new JFrame();
jframe.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
jframe.setSize(1920, 1080);
jframe.setResizable(false);
jframe.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
jframe.setVisible(true);
//parentJpanel - This is the main panel
JPanel parentJpanel = new JPanel();
parentJpanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
parentJpanel.setSize(1920, 1080);
parentJpanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
//smallPanel - This is the little panel on the bottom
JPanel smallPanel = new JPanel();
smallPanel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
smallPanel.setSize(1920, 300);
smallPanel.setLocation(0, 780);
smallPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(smallPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
parentJpanel.add(smallPanel);
jframe.add(parentJpanel);
}
}
I expected the top part to be yellow, and the small part on the bottom to be green, yet the whoel thing turned green. What did I do wrong?

The pictured GUI is created using three panels.
The YELLOW panel is the game play area. It has no layout, no components (which define their own preferred sizes) and is custom painted, so it defines a sensible preferred size to report to the layout manager.
The GREEN panel contains controls. It uses a FlowLayout.
The RED panel uses a BorderLayout, and puts the YELLOW panel in the CENTER and the GREEN panel in the PAGE_END.
Code
This is the code that made the screenshot seen above.
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import java.awt.*;
public class GameLayout {
GameLayout() {
// The main GUI. Everything else is added to this panel
JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
gui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(4, 4, 4, 4));
gui.setBackground(Color.RED);
// The custom painted area - it is a panel that defines its preferred size.
gui.add(new GamePanel());
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEADING));
buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
for (int ii = 1; ii<5; ii++) {
buttonPanel.add(new JButton("B " + ii));
}
gui.add(buttonPanel,BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
JFrame f = new JFrame("Game Layout");
f.setContentPane(gui);
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
f.pack();
f.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = () -> new GameLayout();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}
class GamePanel extends JPanel {
GamePanel() {
setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(400, 100);
}
}

You need to use a LayoutManager so when you put the JPanel inside the other JPanel it will have the correct look. If you simply put panels inside the others, the parent JPanel will use its default layout manager, which is FlowLayout.
For the look of it, it seems you need to use Border Layout for the parent (yellow) panel. For the green, you have options, but I think your best bet is to use Box Layout with a PAGE_AXIS Component Orientation.
In general, you need to be familiarized with two things: 1) Layout Managers and how they behave, and 2) the default layout behavior of JComponents.

Multiple JPanel on JFrame [duplicate]

Below is an example of adding two panels to a frame. Only one panel (the 2nd, red panel) appears.
Why does the first panel disappear?
import java.awt.Color;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
public class DisappearingPanelInFrame {
DisappearingPanelInFrame() {
JFrame f = new JFrame(this.getClass().getSimpleName());
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.add(getColoredPanel(Color.GREEN));
f.add(getColoredPanel(Color.RED));
f.pack();
f.setVisible(true);
}
private JPanel getColoredPanel(Color color) {
JPanel p = new JPanel();
p.setBackground(color);
p.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(20, 150, 20, 150));
return p;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = DisappearingPanelInFrame::new;
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

The default layout of a JFrame (or more specifically in this case, the content pane of the frame) is a BorderLayout.
When adding a component to a BordeLayout with no constraint, the Swing API will put the component in the CENTER.
A BorderLayout can contain exactly one component in each of the 5 layout constraints.
When a second component is added to the same (in this case CENTER) constraint of a BorderLayout, this implementation of Java will display the last component added.
As to what would be a better approach depends on the specific needs of the user interface.

When a second component is added to the same (in this case CENTER) constraint of a BorderLayout, this implementation of Java will display the last component added.
Not strictly true.
The BorderLayout will only reset the bounds (ie size and location) of the last component added to a specific constraint location. This is different from other layout managers in that they will reset the bounds of all components in the container.
In the example code the red panel was the "active" panel at the time the frame was validated by using the pack() method and therefore only its bound were set and therefore only it was painted.
For a demonstration of this process run the example below using the following steps:
Click on the "Add Panel in Center" button, nothing appears to happen even though the blue panel was added to the center.
Move the mouse over the red panel and the buttons will appear because the mouse rollover logic will cause the buttons to be repainted.
Now increase the frame width and the blue panel will appear under the red panel.
The code:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
public class DisappearingPanelInFrame {
DisappearingPanelInFrame()
{
JButton button = new JButton ("Add Panel In Center");
button.addActionListener( new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
JPanel blue = new JPanel();
blue.setBackground( Color.BLUE );
blue.add( new JButton("Button 1") );
blue.add( new JButton("Button 2") );
Component c = (Component)e.getSource();
Window window = SwingUtilities.windowForComponent(c);
window.add(blue );
window.revalidate();
window.repaint();
}
});
JFrame f = new JFrame(this.getClass().getSimpleName());
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.add(new ColoredPanel(Color.GREEN));
//f.pack();
f.add(new ColoredPanel(Color.RED));
f.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
f.pack();
f.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new DisappearingPanelInFrame();
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}
class ColoredPanel extends JPanel {
ColoredPanel(Color color) {
setBackground(color);
setBorder(new EmptyBorder(20, 150, 20, 150));
}
}
When the blue panel is added to the BorderLayout and when the revalidate() is invoked the bounds of the blue panel are set.
However, because of the way Swing does ZOrder painting the blue panel is painted first and then the red panel is painted on top of the blue panel. The green panel still has a size of (0, 0) since it was never the "active" panel in the BorderLayout.CENTER when the frame was initially validated with the pack() method.
When the frame is resized, the blue panel being the "active" panel in the BorderLayout.CENTER, has its bounds adjusted, so it will now fill the extra space in the frame.
Now for another test:
pack() the frame after adding the green panel to the frame.
run the code and increase the width of the frame and the red and green frame will appear
then click the button and increase the width and now all 3 panels will appear
Bottom line is still the same:
Don't try to add multiple panels to the same constraint of a BorderLayout. If you do, then make sure you remove the previous panel or you have the potential for unexpected results.

How can I place buttons in the center of the frame in a vertical line?

I will place these buttons in the center of the frame and above each other, like this.
BUTTON
BUTTON
BUTTON
I've searched multiple topics on this forum but everything I tried didn't work for so far. I hope that somebody has the solution.
This is my code for so far:
package ípsen1;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Image;
import java.awt.Toolkit;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class Paneel extends JPanel implements ActionListener {
Image achtergrond;
private JButton spelHervatten;
private JButton spelOpslaan;
private JButton spelAfsluiten;
public Paneel(){
//buttons
spelHervatten = new JButton("Spel hervatten");
spelHervatten.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(380, 65));
spelOpslaan = new JButton("Spel opslaan");
spelOpslaan.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(380, 65));
spelAfsluiten = new JButton("Spel afsluiten");
spelAfsluiten.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(380, 65));
//object Paneel luistert naar button events
spelAfsluiten.addActionListener(this);
add (spelHervatten);
add (spelOpslaan);
add (spelAfsluiten);
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
//achtergrond afbeelding zetten
achtergrond = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage("hout.jpg");
//screensize
g.drawImage(achtergrond, 0,0, 1024,768,this);
}
//actie na klik op button
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(e.getSource() == spelAfsluiten){
System.out.println("Spel afsluiten");
System.exit(0);
}
}
}

You could use a GridBagLayout
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridwidth = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
add(new JButton("Button"), gbc);
add(new JButton("Button"), gbc);
add(new JButton("Button"), gbc);
add(new JButton("Button"), gbc);
See How to Use GridBagLayout for more details

A BoxLayout might be what you're after. You can specify that you want to add components along the y-axis in the constructor for that particular layout manager.
You could add this line to the constructor of your Paneel class.
this.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
As for center-aligning everything, I don't know if it's good practice but you can set the horizontal alignment for each of your buttons individually. Example:
spelHervatten.setAlignmentX(CENTER_ALIGNMENT);

Uses a GridLayout for a single column of buttons of equal width.
The buttons stretch as the window's size increases. To maintain the button size, put the GridLayout as a single component into a GridBagLayout with no constraint. It will be centered.
The size of the buttons is increased by setting a margin.
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
/*
* Uses a GridLayout for a single column of buttons of equal width.
* The buttons stretch as the window's size increases. To maintain
* the button size, put the GridLayout as a single component into a
* GridBagLayout with no constraint. It will be centered.
*/
public class CenteredSingleColumnOfButtons {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// the GUI as seen by the user (without frame)
JPanel gui = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1,10,10));
gui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(20,30,20,30));
String[] buttonLabels = {
"Spel hervatten",
"Spel opslaan",
"Spel afsluiten"
};
Insets margin = new Insets(20,150,20,150);
JButton b = null;
for (String s : buttonLabels) {
b = new JButton(s);
b.setMargin(margin);
gui.add(b);
}
JFrame f = new JFrame("Centered Single Column of Buttons");
f.add(gui);
// Ensures JVM closes after frame(s) closed and
// all non-daemon threads are finished
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
// See http://stackoverflow.com/a/7143398/418556 for demo.
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
// ensures the frame is the minimum size it needs to be
// in order display the components within it
f.pack();
f.setMinimumSize(f.getSize());
// should be done last, to avoid flickering, moving,
// resizing artifacts.
f.setVisible(true);
System.out.println(b.getSize());
}
};
// Swing GUIs should be created and updated on the EDT
// http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/concurrency
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

I thought there is no way to do that.
You should get size of Panel/Frame then calculate manually to find to center position for your button.

Rephrased some parts:
You might want to try to put the buttons in JFrame's "wind direction"-style BorderLayout:
http://www.leepoint.net/notes-java/GUI/layouts/20borderlayout.html
Just create a block in the CENTER with one EAST and WEST block with a certain size around it. Then insert the buttons inside of the center block. If you don't want them to be the full size, just add another EAST and WEST.

Change EmptyBorder space colour

Does anyone know whether its possible to change the colour of the empty space provided by the BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder() method. By default it always sets it to white - i want to set it to whatever colour the background of my JFrame is (i.e. grey).

You want an empty border that has a color? The point of an empty border is that it takes up no space. Something with no space can't have a color. Did you want a line border instead?
see BorderFactory#createLineBorder(Color color)

Apply the empty border & color (or 'not' for plain) to a panel added to the content pane.
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
public class PlainColoredEmptyBorder {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// the GUI as seen by the user (without frame)
JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
gui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(20, 30, 20, 30));
JTree tree = new JTree();
tree.setVisibleRowCount(4);
gui.add(new JScrollPane(tree));
gui.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
JFrame f = new JFrame("Demo");
f.add(gui);
// Ensures JVM closes after frame(s) closed and
// all non-daemon threads are finished
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
// See http://stackoverflow.com/a/7143398/418556 for demo.
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
// ensures the frame is the minimum size it needs to be
// in order display the components within it
f.pack();
// should be done last, to avoid flickering, moving,
// resizing artifacts.
f.setVisible(true);
}
};
// Swing GUIs should be created and updated on the EDT
// http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/concurrency/initial.html
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

Why does the cursor show up when i have an empty border but not when i use any of the other border types?
Because an empty border is the only Border that does not paint. Any other type of Border will paint over the text pane cursor.
Putting your text pane inside of a JPanel with a background color doesn't work either because your text pane will be painted after the parent JPanel.

Setting the background colour of the text field and setting it to opaque fixes this

Layout for displaying panels dynamically with scroll bar

In java, I have been trying to create a panel that can accept other panels with a scroll bar.
I tried using gridlayout, and this works fine, except for the fact that if I only add a few panels, it grows those panels to fit the size of the parent panel.
I tried using flowlayout, but this makes the panels flow horizontally as there is a scroll bar.
How do I make it so I can add panels to the parent panel starting at the top and make them always the same size(or their preferred size).
Also, when I add panels to the parent panel after an event, they do not appear until after I move or resize the form. How do I make it repaint? calling repaint() on it did not work.

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
/** This lays out components in a column that is constrained to the
top of an area, like the entries in a list or table. It uses a GridLayout
for the main components, thus ensuring they are each of the same size.
For variable height components, a BoxLayout would be better. */
class ConstrainedGrid {
ConstrainedGrid() {
final JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5,5));
gui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(3,3,3,3));
gui.setBackground(Color.red);
JPanel scrollPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(2,2));
scrollPanel.setBackground(Color.green);
scrollPanel.add(new JLabel("Center"), BorderLayout.CENTER);
gui.add(new JScrollPane(scrollPanel), BorderLayout.CENTER);
final JPanel componentPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1,3,3));
componentPanel.setBackground(Color.orange);
scrollPanel.add(componentPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JButton add = new JButton("Add");
gui.add(add, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add.addActionListener( new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
componentPanel.add(new JTextField());
gui.validate();
}
});
Dimension d = gui.getPreferredSize();
d = new Dimension(d.width, d.height+100);
gui.setPreferredSize(d);
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, gui);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
ConstrainedGrid cg = new ConstrainedGrid();
}
});
}
}

Assuming JScrollPane, see Sizing a Scroll Pane. For convenience, Scrollable clients such as JTable offer setPreferredScrollableViewportSize(), but you can always set the viewport's size explicitly.