Develop Reference

JFrame turns blue when adding tabs

I currently have a Jframe that I want to add to a tab instead.
(I used a frame just for testing purposes, to make sure the look and feel is correct, but when trying to add it to a JTabbedPane, the frame starts to look blue (weird top aswell).
I tried copying my settings from my original frame to the new frame but that did not help.
JTabbedPane tabs = new JTabbedPane();
tabs.addTab("1", frame.getContentPane());
JFrame FinalFrame = new JFrame();
FinalFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
FinalFrame.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGTH);
FinalFrame.setLocation(100, 150);
FinalFrame.setTitle("Primal-Pvm Notification center");
FinalFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
FinalFrame.add(tabs);
Side by side view of the problem and the frame before adding it to the tab:
Edit: Answer by George Z. helped me out a lot.
Like he said to solve the problem:
Don't add things to your main frame but add them to a Jpanel and add that to a JTabbedPane.
If you have a Jpanel that you are adding to a tab that contains an override in the paintComponent, you have to create that class as the Jpanel so:
JPanel panel = new LineDrawer([Enter parameters]);
panel.setLayout([Enter Layout]);

The way you are approaching this seems to be pretty complex hence this weird behavior. (Looks like a look and feel problem? - show the part of the code that sets it)
However, I suggest you to create only one JFrame (this question explains why you should do that), set the layout of its content pane to BorderLayout and keep it like this. Its a rare situation to mess up with content panes. After that create independent JPanels representing the tab(s) you would like to have. Finally create a JTabbedPane with these panels and add it to the content frame of the JFrame.
A small example would be:
public class TabbedPanelExample extends JFrame {
public TabbedPanelExample() {
super("test");
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JTabbedPane pane = new JTabbedPane();
pane.addTab("FirstTab", createFirstTab());
pane.addTab("SecondTab", createSecondTab());
add(pane);
setSize(400, 400);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
}
private Component createFirstTab() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
panel.add(new JLabel("Some Component"));
panel.add(new JTextField("Some Other Component"));
return panel;
}
private Component createSecondTab() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
panel.add(new JLabel("Some Component"));
panel.add(new JButton("Some Other Component"));
return panel;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
new TabbedPanelExample().setVisible(true);
});
}
}
Post edit based on this comment:
Well I do have a Jframe with a lot of elements added to it so it kinda
is a hassle to switch it all to panels;
A JFrame cannot have a lot of elements. You take a look on how to use root panes. The container that "has a lot of elements" of a JFrame is its rootpane which is mostly completed by its contentpane. When you frame.add(component), you add the component to its content pane. Guess what? A JFrame's content pane is a JPanel. So are a already to panels.
Now in order to make this work, try to do as i said and frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout(); //changes layout to contentpane. Assuming you have a bunch of components (lets say comp1,comp2) and you are adding them like:
frame.add(comp1);
frame.add(comp2);
You must do the following in order to make it clear. Create a JPanel and instead of frame.add(comp1), do panel.add(comp1). So this JPanel has all the components you added in JFrame. After that create your JTabbedPane:
JTabbedPane pane = new JTabbedPane();
pane.addTab("tab", panel);
and finally add this pane to the content pane of your JFrame:
frame.add(pane);
In conclusion, you will move all the components you have added to your frame into a JPanel, add this JPanel to a JTabbedPane, and finally add this JTabbedPane to the frame (contentpane). Frame has only one component.

How to make a JButton that will create other buttons within a JPanel?

I am creating a user system to hold multiple details of multiple users. so i would like to create a button that would be able to create another button. when the second button is pressed a form will open for the user to fill. I have already created the form for the user to fill but i cannot manage to make the button to create more buttons to work. I have coded this but it does not show the button on the Jpanel.
I have created the following code:
private void mainButtonActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
JButton b=new JButton("Click Here");
b.setBounds(50,100,95,30);
jPanel3.add(b);
b.setVisible(true);
}
This doesn't seem to create a new button within jPanel3. Have I typed up the code incorrectly or is there an alternative correct way of doing this?
I would like 3 buttons in a row and then a new row of buttons.

Your code and question is missing too much information to be answered completely or well. About all I can say is
Always call jPanel3.revalidate() and jPanel3.repaint() on the container after adding or removing components from it as this tells the container's (here jPanel3) layout managers to re-layout all components and then re-draw them.
The container's layout manager is key for this to work well -- we have no idea what it is at the moment, and some layout managers will allow you to do this easily (e.g., FlowLayout, GridLayout) while others won't (e.g., GroupLayout).
There's no need for b.setVisible(true); since your newly created JComponent (JButton here) is already visible by default.
You appear to assume that it's using null layouts since you're calling setBounds(...), and this is a Bad Idea™. While null layouts and setBounds() might seem to Swing newbies like the easiest and best way to create complex GUI's, the more Swing GUI'S you create the more serious difficulties you will run into when using them. They won't resize your components when the GUI resizes, they are a royal witch to enhance or maintain, they fail completely when placed in scrollpanes, they look gawd-awful when viewed on all platforms or screen resolutions that are different from the original one.
When asking such questions, try to create and post with the question a small but complete program that we can test and run, and that illustrates your problem, a minimal example program (please click on the link).
For example, my MCVE that shows how your code can work:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class AddButton extends JPanel {
private JPanel jPanel3 = new JPanel(); // panel to hold buttons
public AddButton() {
// create JButton that will add new buttons to jPanel3
JButton addMoreButtonsBtn = new JButton("Add More Buttons");
// give it an ActionListener
addMoreButtonsBtn.addActionListener(e -> {
final JButton newButton = new JButton("Click Here");
// when you click it, it removes itself (just for grins)
newButton.addActionListener(e2 -> {
jPanel3.remove(newButton);
// again revalidate and repaint
jPanel3.revalidate();
jPanel3.repaint();
});
// add to jPanel3, the "container"
jPanel3.add(newButton);
// revalidate and repaint the container
jPanel3.revalidate();
jPanel3.repaint();
});
// create a JPanel and put the add more buttons button to it
JPanel bottomPanel = new JPanel();
bottomPanel.add(addMoreButtonsBtn);
// give jPanel3 a layout that can handle new buttons
// a gridlayout with 1 column and any number of rows
jPanel3.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1));
// add it to the top of another JPanel that uses BorderLayout
JPanel borderLayoutPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
borderLayoutPanel.add(jPanel3, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
// and add that to a JScrollPane, so we can add many buttons and scroll
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(borderLayoutPanel);
// make the vert scrollbar always visible
scrollPane.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
// force GUI to be larger
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 200));
// give the main JPanel a BorderLayout
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
// and add scrollpane to center
add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
// add bottom panel to the bottom
add(bottomPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
AddButton mainPanel = new AddButton();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("AddButton");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> createAndShowGui());
}
}

Aligning JButton

I have to align a button on my program to the exact middle, the current code I have runs it but displays the button as large as the program, I am wanting a center button that is a specific size, here is what I tried
/**
* Created by Timk9 on 11/04/2016.
*/
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Test extends JFrame {
{
JFrame window = new JFrame("Test");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setResizable(true);
window.setSize(600, 600);
window.setVisible(true);
window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
//Button does not appear until I resize the program?
JButton b1 = new JButton("Click here");
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
p.add(b1);
window.add(p);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Test();
}
}

JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
You create a panel with a GridBagLayout which is a good layout manager to use to center the component.
p.add(b1);
But then you add the button to the panel without using any contraints.
The code should be:
p.add(b1, c);
//Button does not appear until I resize the program?
All components should be added to the frame BEFORE the frame is made visible. The setVisible(...) statement should be the last statement of the constructor.
Also could you point out which part is an instance initializer block, I thought I was using a constructor
See the FrameDemo example from the Swing tutorial on How to Make Frames for a better way to structure your code so you follow Swing conventions. Start with the working code and make the changes to add your panel containing the button, instead of using the JLabel. Note you no longer need to use the getContentPane() method, you can just add the panel directly to the frame.

It is the LayoutManager that defines how components are layed out where and how big. GridLayout which you are using e. g. divides the available space in equal grid fields and makes the components completely fill this space which is why your button is as big as your application. See here for more info about LayoutManagers: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/layout/visual.html
Btw. your code is not compilable: new JButton("he"),JButton.ALIGN_CENTER)

Improper use of JTextField (maybe) Help creating a GUI

I'm very new to Java and I'm trying to create a small program that reverses text (That part I've figured out).
Where I'm getting stuck on is my GUI, my envisioned plan for the gui is a window with a centered text field for user input then under it in the directly middle of the window a button that reverses the text from the above text box and outputs it in a text box below the button.
Right now I'm using JTextField boxes and after trying to make them look the way I want I'm getting the feeling that there's an easier way to do it, but I don't know it.
Here's my GUI class:
public class ReverseTextGUI extends ReverseRun implements ActionListener {
public static JFrame frame;
private JPanel northFlowLayoutPanel;
private JPanel centerFlowLayoutPanel;
private JPanel southFlowLayoutPanel;
private final JButton reverse = new JButton("Reverse");
private final JTextField userInput = new JTextField(50);
private final JTextField reverseOutput = new JTextField(50);
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
reverse.addActionListener((ActionListener) reverse);
reverse.setActionCommand("Reverse");
if ("algorithm".equals(e.getActionCommand())) {
System.out.println("test");
}
}
public void initUI() {
northFlowLayoutPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
northFlowLayoutPanel.add(userInput);
userInput.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(150,100));
centerFlowLayoutPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
centerFlowLayoutPanel.add(reverse);
southFlowLayoutPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
southFlowLayoutPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Output text"));
southFlowLayoutPanel.add(reverseOutput);
reverseOutput.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(150,100));
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Backwardizer");
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); // This is the default layout
frame.add(northFlowLayoutPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
frame.add(centerFlowLayoutPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.add(southFlowLayoutPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(750, 500);
}
Any ideas how to either move the cursor to the start of the box (it shows up in the middle as of now) or a better way to accomplish what I'm trying to do?

For the reversing aspect, you can add the text from the first box to a string builder
StringBuilder rev = new StringBuilder(firstBox.getText());
String reversedText = rev.reverse().toString();
secondBox.setText(reversedText);
Something along those line should get the desired result if you nest it in the button action.

Any ideas how to either move the cursor to the start of the box (it shows up in the middle as of now) or a better way to accomplish what I'm trying to do?
JTextField#setCaretPosition, call this AFTER you've updated the text of the field
Make the field readonly, JTextField#setEditable and pass it false
Additionally, you could use a JList or JTextArea if you want to store multiple rows/lines of text
You should also avoid using setPreferredSize, see Should I avoid the use of set(Preferred|Maximum|Minimum)Size methods in Java Swing? for more details

Having trouble re-sizing JButton in Java

Whenever I add my jbutton to my container it's really huge. I thought using the label.setBounds() function would work but it didn't
public Liability_Calculator(String s)
{
super(s);
setSize(325,200);
Color customColor = Color.WHITE;
c = getContentPane();
c.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
//the button
ok = new JButton("OK");
//ok.setSize(50, 50);
//HERE IS WHERE I TRY AND RESIZE!
ok.setBounds(30,30,50,50);
c.add(ok, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
setVisible(true);
}

Suggestions:
You will want to read up on the layout managers to
understand why your GUI is behaving this way
and to see how to use the layout managers to your advantage to create better looking GUI's in an easy way.
You'll also want to avoid setting bounds on any gui components.
For instance, a JPanel uses FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER)) by default, and you can use that to your advantage by placing your ok JButton into a JPanel and then the JPanel into the contentPane:
ok = new JButton("OK");
// ok.setBounds(30, 30, 50, 50);
JPanel southPanel = new JPanel();
southPanel.add(ok);
c.add(southPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
This will change the first image to the second: