I've been staring at my code for hours, and I've cut out almost everything down to the simplest bits and I don't know how to make a JPanel expand to the size of the frame. Ideally (in the end) I'd like a container panel with a north and south content panels. The north panel needs to take up whatever space is leftover once the south panel is placed.
For now, though, I have a tiny red speck that is only as big as its content. Can someone give me some insight into what I am doing fundamentally wrong?
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
public class TestCode extends JFrame {
private DescriptionPanel window = new DescriptionPanel();
public static void main(String[] args){
TestCode frame = new TestCode();
frame.pack();
frame.setTitle("Grape Project");
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setSize(400, 300);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public TestCode(){
add(window);
}
}
And the DescriptionPanel class:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class DescriptionPanel extends JPanel{
private JPanel container = new JPanel();
public DescriptionPanel(ImageIcon pic, JLabel text){
container.setBackground(Color.red);
add(container);
}
}
This is a typical BorderLayout scenario.
By default, JPanels have a FlowLayout already set, so you need to call setLayout, or you can initialize your DescriptionPanel with the proper layout manager :
super(new BorderLayout());
// setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(top, BorderLayout.CENTER); // take all available upper space left
add(bottom, BorderLayout.SOUTH); // take the vertical space specified
Set the LayoutManager to BorderLayout:
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
Related
How do you resize the button? I've tried various methods like setSize and setPreferredSize but they aren't workng.
package tests;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JButton;
public class RPS extends JPanel{
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Rock Paper Scissors");
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
JLabel label = new JLabel("<html>Will you choose <i>rock,</i> <i>paper,</i> or <i>scissors?</i></html>");
JButton button = new JButton("I am a button.");
label.setHorizontalAlignment(0);
label.setVerticalAlignment(1);
frame.pack();
frame.getContentPane();
frame.setTitle("Rock Paper Scissors");
frame.setSize(640, 480);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(panel);
frame.add(label);
frame.add(button);
button.setToolTipText("Y U no click me?");;
}
}
There is generally no need to resize a button. The button will determine its own size based on the text and Font used by the button. The layout manager will then use this information to give the components a size and location based on the rules of the layout manager.
If you want extra space around the text then you can use:
button.setMargin(...);
You have many other problems with your code:
frame.add(panel);
frame.add(label);
frame.add(button);
This won't do anything. By default the content pane of the frame uses a BorderLayout. If you don't specify a constraint, then then component is add to the CENTER, but only one component can be displayed in the CENTER so you only see the last one.
frame.setSize(640, 480);
There is no need for that statement. The pack() will set all the components at their preferred sizes.
frame.setVisible(true);
This should be the last statement executed, "after" all components have been added to the frame.
frame.getContentPane();
This does nothing, you don't assign the returned value to any variable.
label.setHorizontalAlignment(0);
label.setVerticalAlignment(1);
Don't use magic numbers. Nobody knows what 0 and 1 are used for. Read the API for those methods for variables that you can use.
Read the section from the Swing tutorial on Layout Managers for more information and working examples to get you started. Start with the section on How to Use BorderLayout to understand why your current code isn't working and to understand how to specify the "constraints" when you add your components to the frame.
package tests;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class RPS extends JPanel{
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Rock Paper Scissors");
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
JLabel label = new JLabel("<html>Will you choose <i>rock,</i> <i>paper,</i> or <i>scissors?</i></html>");
JButton button = new JButton("I am a button.");
label.setHorizontalAlignment(0);
label.setVerticalAlignment(1);
panel.add(button); <-add button to panel
frame.add(panel, BorderLayout.SOUTH); <--- you need to say where you are adding the panel onto the frame.
frame.add(label,BorderLayout.NORTH); <--- same with the label
frame.pack();
frame.setTitle("Rock Paper Scissors");
frame.setSize(640, 480);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
button.setToolTipText("Y U no click me?");;
}
}
If you want a bigger button in the center, you can modify with this:
button.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 300));
panel.add(button);
frame.add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER); <--adds to center rather than south
I'm trying to align a JLabel to the right in a JPanel. I'm adding a JTabbedPane, a JPanel which contains my JLabel and JTextArea to a main JPanel.
I have searched SO and tried some methods like setAlignmentX, setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.LEFT) and nested containers to no avail.
Here's my code:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class LabelProblem
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Label Problem");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel Main = new JPanel();
Main.setLayout(new BoxLayout(Main, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel ComponentPanel = new JPanel();
JLabel label = new JLabel("Sample Text");
label.setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.LEFT);
label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
label.setAlignmentX(Component.RIGHT_ALIGNMENT);
ComponentPanel.add(label);
JTabbedPane Tab = new JTabbedPane();
Tab.add("Document 1", new JPanel());
Main.add(Tab);
Main.add(ComponentPanel);
JTextArea Area = new JTextArea(10,10);
JScrollPane Scroll = new JScrollPane(Area);
frame.add(Main);
frame.add(Scroll, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.setSize(450,450);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
How can I align my JLabel to the right?
Thanks!
So, the place of that label is determined by the layout of ComponentPanel. Since you didn't specify any layout it is using the default FlowLayout with a CENTER alignment. Assuming that you are ok with a FlowLayout it is a mere question of setting the alignment of the LEFT since this is possible with this layout.
Here's the code with the fix, however I suspect that as you put more elements to the ComponentPanel you will want to use another layout since FlowLayout is more adequate for menus and the like and not for displaying the main content.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
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.JTabbedPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
class LabelProblem
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
initGUI();
}
});
}
public static void initGUI()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Label Problem");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel main = new JPanel();
main.setLayout(new BoxLayout(main, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel componentPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));
JLabel label = new JLabel("Sample Text");
label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
componentPanel.add(label);
JTabbedPane Tab = new JTabbedPane();
Tab.add("Document 1", new JPanel());
main.add(Tab);
main.add(componentPanel);
JTextArea area = new JTextArea(10, 10);
JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(area);
frame.add(main);
frame.add(scroll, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.setSize(450, 450);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
Result:
Note: I also changed the variable names to follow the java style convention: variable names should start with lower case to differenciate them from clases names, starting in upper case.
One simple approach is to set the label's horizontalAlignment to JLabel.RIGHT in the constructor.
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class LabelProblem {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Label Problem");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1));
JTabbedPane tab = new JTabbedPane();
tab.add("Document 1", new JPanel());
frame.add(tab);
JLabel label = new JLabel("Sample Text", JLabel.RIGHT);
frame.add(label);
JTextArea area = new JTextArea(10, 10);
JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(area);
frame.add(scroll);
frame.pack();
frame.setSize(450, 450);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
I think it may be a matter of you not actually setting layouts where you imagine you're setting layouts.
You have a JPanel with a vertically oriented BoxLayout (Main) enclosing another JPanel with default layout (ComponentPanel), finally enclosing your label. The reason why your label can't be pushed to the right is because is already is pushed to the right within it's enclosing container. If you set a colored border around ComponentPanel, you'll see what I mean -- it only occupies the same amount of space as the JLabel, giving the JLabel nowhere to move.
You need to set a layout and constraints for your intermediate ComponentPanel, allowing it to horizontally fill its parent container so that the label has someplace to go.
You haven't really specified how your layout is supposed to look, but if you change the layout on Main to X_AXIS, your label will pop over to the left (as will its parent container). Without knowing what you're really trying to do, I can't say much more.
I would however, suggest you throw your BoxLayout away entirely and look into using GridBagLayout, which gives you a high level control over your UI. GridBagLayout isn't the most concise construct, but that's the price of control.
I have a problem. Now I'm working with 3 panels, mainPanel and 2 others ( btnPanel and iconPanel).
So the problem is when I push button "reset" I delete iconPanel and add it again it moves slightly to right on its own. Maybe someone can check my code where the problem?
Also I dont want to create another question so I give 2 extra questions.
Do I delete JPanel properly?
If I delete JPanel with components inside they also will be removed from memory?
P.s. Im beginner so dont judge me :)
Main.java
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class Main extends JFrame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Made by Mac4s");
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(310, 654);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
MainScreen screenObj = new MainScreen();
screenObj.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(310, 650));
frame.add(screenObj);
}
});
}
}
MainScreen.java
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class MainScreen extends JPanel {
private JButton resetBtn;
private JPanel btnPanel;
private JPanel iconPanel;
public MainScreen() {
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
this.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
setBtnPanelAndComp();
setIconPanelAndComp();
add(mainPanel);
}
private void setBtnPanelAndComp() {
btnPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
btnPanel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
btnPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(295, 30));
setButtons();
this.add(btnPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
}
private void setButtons() {
resetBtn = new JButton("Reset");
resetBtn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
resetIconLabel();
}
});
btnPanel.add(resetBtn, BorderLayout.WEST);
}
private void resetIconLabel() {
this.remove(iconPanel);
this.repaint();
this.revalidate();
setIconPanelAndComp();
}
private void setIconPanelAndComp() {
iconPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
iconPanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
iconPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(295, 580));
this.add(iconPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
}
}
"the problem is when I push button "reset" I delete iconPanel and add it again it moves slightly to right on its own."
The reason this happens is because a JPanel has a FlowLayout by default. You're trying add to a BorderLayout position that is non-existent.
this.add(iconPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
The FlowLayout has default gaps on the edges, so when you set the size of the frame, those gaps aren't respected. To over come this, it is also preferable to pack() the frame, instead of setSize()
The reason BorderLayout works (doesn't shift) is because preferred sizes aren't respected.
If you set the layout in the constructor to this.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); You won't have the shift.
public MainScreen() {
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
this.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); <----
setBtnPanelAndComp();
setIconPanelAndComp();
add(mainPanel);
}
Notes
You should setVisible() after adding components. That's why your frame jumps when you first open it. You are setting the frame visible, then moving it around with the location, and adding components.
I want to arrange components as shown in image. I can do this by using gridbaglayout but I want to do this using borderlayout. I tried it but could not achieve what I wanted. so please guide me here.
The black rectangles here are components like JPanel, Button etc.
If you want to do it only with BorderLayout, you need to use 2 BorderLayout. If you cannot use 2 layouts, then you are stuck with GridBagLayout.
This is a demonstration of what I am telling:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class Test {
protected void initUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JPanel panel2 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
panel2.add(new JButton("NORTH"), BorderLayout.NORTH);
panel2.add(new JButton("CENTER"));
panel.add(panel2);
panel.add(new JButton("SOUTH"), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(new JButton("EAST"), BorderLayout.EAST);
frame.add(panel);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new Test().initUI();
}
});
}
}
Border layout doesn't work that way. This is the border layout schematic:
You will not be able to place the EAST layout into the top right-hand corner - NORTH will always float to the right hand side.
Edit: shows how long it's been since I used Swing or AWT - back when I did, it was EAST, NORTH, WEST, SOUTH and CENTER.
I have a JLabel that contains variable text in a certain location in my GUI. The problem is that the text gets displayed at the bottom of the space where the JLabel is located. This does not convey to the end user the relevant information about the other contents of the GUI. Instead, I need the text of the JLabel to be printed in the middle of the vertical axis of the JLabel. A simplified version of my code is below. Can anyone show me how to alter it so that the text displays in the middle of the vertical axis instead of the bottom?
Main.java:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Main");
frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new FlowLayout());
frame.getContentPane().add(new VerticalLabel("Hello"));
Dimension prefSize = new Dimension(400, 300);
frame.setPreferredSize(prefSize);
frame.setMinimumSize(prefSize);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
VerticalLabel.java:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.border.EtchedBorder;
public class VerticalLabel extends JLabel {
public VerticalLabel(String labelText) {
Dimension myDim = new Dimension(15, 250);
this.setPreferredSize(myDim);
this.setHorizontalAlignment(LEFT);
this.setVerticalAlignment(CENTER);
this.setText(labelText);
this.setVerticalTextPosition(CENTER);
this.setUI(new VerticalLabelUI(false));
this.setBorder(new EtchedBorder());
}
}
Hardcoding a random preferred size is not a good idea.
You wrote a custom UI, so it is the responsibility of the UI to paint the text in the proper position.
Instead of creating a custom UI you can use the Text Icon approach to display vertical text. Create the label as follows:
JLabel label = new JLabel();
label.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
TextIcon labelIcon = new TextIcon(label, "Hello", TextIcon.Layout.VERTICAL);
label.setIcon( vIcon );
Add the label to the CENTER of a panel using a BorderLayout and the vetical text will be centered vertically and horizontally.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.border.EtchedBorder;
public class VerticalLabel extends JLabel{
public VerticalLabel(String labelText){
this.setHorizontalAlignment(LEFT);
this.setVerticalAlignment(CENTER);
this.setText(labelText);
this.setVerticalTextPosition(CENTER);
//this.setUI( new VerticalLabelUI(false) );
this.setBorder( new EtchedBorder() );
}
public static void main(String[] args){
// should be done on the EDT.
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Main");
frame.getContentPane().setLayout( new GridBagLayout() );
frame.getContentPane().add(new VerticalLabel("Hello"));
Dimension prefSize = new Dimension(200,150);
frame.setPreferredSize(prefSize);
frame.setMinimumSize(prefSize);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}