I have a lage JPanel in my JFrame which contains arraylist of "Pages" - data type which extends JPanel, it defaultly contains JPanel "area", height equaling the cumulative one of it's children (which it has none by default), and BOX.filler (preffered height is full height of the "Page"). So, by default, the whole "Page" is filled with filler, which decreases as I add elements to "area".
Also, I have an array list which contain JPanels. They are elements which go onto "area". As I add them, when height of filler becomes zero, I create a new "Page" and move last element (which went "off bounds") onto it. Basically, it's supposed to work similar to MS Word.
Now the catch. User can add and remove those elements freely, from whichever part of the document. The question is, how can I add an element to a random spot on "area"? Addition will probably be made by invoking a keylistener attached to another element, so I will know between which two elements is the random one being put.
Is there a layout manager that can be used for this or should it be done another way?
Which way?
If I understand you problem correctly, you are trying to insert a component at a certain position instead of appending it?
If that's your problem, you might want to use a BoxLayout and the add(component, index) method of java's swing containers. Of course you might again need to move some childrens to the following page, and recursively childrens of the following page to the one after that.
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class AddAt {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JLabel one = new JLabel("one");
JLabel two = new JLabel("two");
JLabel between = new JLabel("between");
frame.add(panel);
panel.add(one);
panel.add(two);
panel.add(between, 1);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
results in:
Related
I'm building up a panel that will go in a larger program; the following program still illustrates my question, but it looks a bit more complicated than it absolutely has to because there are places I will add things later.
package sandbox;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Dimension;
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;
public class SpacingPlay extends JFrame
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public static void main(String[] args)
{
SpacingPlay sp = new SpacingPlay();
sp.setVisible(true);
}
public SpacingPlay()
{
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel panel = new DragNDropPanel();
add(panel);
pack();
}
class DragNDropPanel extends JPanel
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public DragNDropPanel()
{
JPanel currentImagePanel = getCurrentImagePanel();
JPanel leftPanel = new JPanel();
leftPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(leftPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
leftPanel.add(currentImagePanel);
// other things will go here; I cut them out to make this simpler.
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
// put things in a containing panel so that they aren't stretched being in the WEST part of a borderlayout.
JPanel leftContainingPanel = new JPanel();
leftContainingPanel.add(leftPanel);
add(leftContainingPanel, BorderLayout.WEST);
}
private Component createStandardSpace()
{
return Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(0, 15));
}
private JPanel getCurrentImagePanel()
{
JPanel currentImagePanel = new JPanel();
currentImagePanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(currentImagePanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
JLabel currentImageLabel = new JLabel("none");
currentImageLabel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createDashedBorder(Color.BLUE));
currentImageLabel.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
Dimension defaultLabelSize = new Dimension(150,150); // was expecting this to enlarge the label.
currentImageLabel.setPreferredSize(defaultLabelSize);
currentImageLabel.setSize(defaultLabelSize);
JButton clearButton = new JButton("Clear");
clearButton.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
clearButton.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.GREEN));
currentImagePanel.add(currentImageLabel);
currentImagePanel.add(createStandardSpace());
currentImagePanel.add(clearButton);
currentImagePanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.ORANGE));
return currentImagePanel;
}
}
}
I would like the currentImageLabel to be a standard size; I intend for it to get different images put into it during the program, and want it to get these without changing size. My idea was to set a size and preferred size and then scale the images I put there to that size.
However, the defaultLabelSize doesn't have the effect I thought it would. The label goes into a boxLayout panel; it is added, then a rigid space, then a button. I expected the label to be the default size, not shrunk to min allowed. I've put in colored borders to try to understand better what's happening; it appears that the preferred size is honored for the overall boxLayout panel, but not for the placement of the button below the label. EDIT: In other words, I want the button below the label to be placed below the label when the label is forced to be bigger. But the size I put on the label doesn't seem to work.
What do I need to do to fix the size of currentImageLabel?
Not 100% why the label is only sized to the text and not the (hard coded) preferred size. I have not been able to duplicate this behaviour using other combinations of panels and layout managers.
You are using pack so all components should be sized to their preferred sizes.
Dimension defaultLabelSize = new Dimension(150,150); // was expecting this to enlarge the label.
currentImageLabel.setPreferredSize(defaultLabelSize);
currentImageLabel.setSize(defaultLabelSize);
A few comments:
Setting the size will never work. The layout manager will always override the size/location based on the rules of the layout manager.
The layout manager can use (or ignore) the preferred, minimum and maximum sizes of a component. In the case of the BoxLayout is does attempt to use the preferred size but will respect the minimum and maximum sizes (depending on the available space in the parent panel).
What do I need to do to fix the size of currentImageLabel?
So, to achieve your desired goal of a fixed preferred size for the JLabel you can use:
Dimension defaultLabelSize = new Dimension(150,150); // was expecting this to enlarge the label.
currentImageLabel.setPreferredSize(defaultLabelSize);
currentImageLabel.setMinimumSize(defaultLabelSize);
currentImageLabel.setMaximumSize(defaultLabelSize);
//currentImageLabel.setSize(defaultLabelSize);
Edit:
was looking for why this doesn't seem to work
For further clarification, change your original code to:
currentImageLabel.setPreferredSize(defaultLabelSize);
System.out.println(currentImageLabel.getPreferredSize());
System.out.println(currentImageLabel.getMinimumSize());
System.out.println(currentImageLabel.getMaximumSize());
You will see the min/max sizes of the label are not affected.
From point 2 above you will see that the BoxLayout is respecting the maximum size.
Therefore, by also overriding the maximum size, you allow the label to be displayed at is preferred size.
However, when you calculate the preferred size of the "currentImagePanel" the ( hardcoded) preferred size of the label is used in the preferred size calculation of the panel, so that panel is displayed at the preferred size.
Another note. The "leftContainingPanel" is not needed. You can just add the "leftPanel" to the BorderLayout.WEST, since the BorderLayout will respect the width of the component you add.
I am beginner in Java. This is my first project.
The GUI of the code keeps changing every time I run the code.
Sometimes output doesn't even load completely.
This is the code for just initializing a chess board 8X8 jbuttons.
I have put down the images do checkout the hyperlinks below.
Is there any solution that shows the same output every time the code executes?
package chess;
import game.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class board{
static JButton [][] spots =new JButton [8][8];
public static void main(String[] args){
board b =new board();
b.initializeboard(spots);
}
public void initializeboard(JButton [][] spots){
JFrame f = new JFrame("CHESS");
f.setVisible(true);
f.setSize(800,800);
GridLayout layout =new GridLayout(8,8,1,1);
f.setLayout(layout);
for(int ver=0;ver<8;ver++){
for(int hor=0;hor<8;hor++){
JButton button = new JButton();
if((ver+hor)%2==0){
button.setBackground(Color.WHITE); }
else{
button.setBackground(new Color(255,205,51)); }
pieces p =new pieces();
spots[ver][hor] = button;
p.setButton(button);
f.add(button);
}
}
} //initialize board
} // close board
Improper Execution
Correct Execution
Incomplete Execution
I am beginner in Java.
First of all, class names SHOULD start with an upper case character. Have you even seen a class in the JDK that does not start with an upper case character? Learn by example from the code in your text book or tutorial.
Is there any solution that shows the same output every time the code executes?
All components should be added to the frame BEFORE the frame is made visible.
When the frame is made visible the layout manager is invoked and the components are given a size/location. If you add components to a visible panel, then you need to invoke revalidate() and repaint() on the panel to make sure the layout manager is invoked.
Must admit I'm not sure why you get this random behaviour. Some components are getting a size/location and other are not even though the layout manager is not invoked.
I would suggest you restructure your code something like:
JPanel chessboard = new JPanel( new GridLayout(8, 8, 1, 1) );
// add buttons to the panel
JFrame frame = new JFrame("CHESS")
frame.add(chessboard, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo( null );
frame.setVisible( true );
Other comments:
Don't set the size of the frame. Using 800 x 800 will not make each button 100 x 100. The frame size also include the title bar and borders, so each button size will be less than you expect.
Instead you can create a variable outside of your loops:
Dimension buttonSize = new Dimension(100, 100)
Then when you create the button you use:
button.setPreferredSize( buttonSize );
Now when pack() method is invoked is will size the frame at the preferred size of all the components added to the frame.
All Swing components should be create on the Event Dispatch Thread (EDT). Read the section from the Swing tutorial How to Make Frames. The FrameDemo.java code shows you one way to structure your class so that the invokeLater(…) method is used to make sure code executes on the EDT.
Don't make your variables static. This indicates incorrect class design. Check out the MenuLook.java example found in How to Use Menus for a slightly different design where your ChessBoard becomes a component created in another class. You can then define your instance variables in that class.
I have done tons of searching over the past two hours, and I've given up. The image below shows what I am trying to achieve (don't judge my drawing it's late and I made it in paint quickly):
Basically, I want a JScrollPane to have a JPanel with a 2-column GridLayout, and as I add elements I want the GridLayout to expand downward. I want the elements to use their Preferred Size and to NOT expand within the GridLayout.
Currently I have a JScrollPane and a JPanel with a GridLayout, and a JPanel containing the grid with a FlowLayout. As a test, I add 10 buttons to the grid. Here's my current code:
// Setup main panel
JPanel pnlUsers = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 2));
pnlUsers.setOpaque(true);
pnlUsers.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
// Setup GridLayout Container
JPanel pnl2 = new JPanel();
pnl2.setOpaque(false);
pnl2.add(pnlusers);
// Setup scrollpane
JScrollPane scrUsers = new JScrollPane(pnl2);
scrUsers.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_AS_NEEDED);
scrUsers.setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER);
scrUsers.setOpaque(false);
scrUsers.getViewport().setOpaque(false);
scrUsers.setBorder(null);
// Add users
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
pnlUsers.add(new JButton("Button " + (i + 1));
}
This gives a very good result, with the buttons using their preferred size as seen in the image below:
Unfortunately, the buttons are still not filling the horizontal space. So, I attempted to make pnl2 a BoxLayout instead and add some vertical glue...
// Setup GridLayout Container
JPanel pnl2 = new JPanel();
pnl2.setLayout(new BoxLayout(pnl2, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
pnl2.setOpaque(false);
pnl2.add(pnlusers);
pnl2.add(Box.createVerticalGlue());
I also created my own temporary button class that sets the preferred size to use the minimum size:
public class TempButton extends JButton {
public PLTempButton(String msg) {
super(msg);
this.setPreferredSize(this.getMinimumSize());
}
}
Which resulted in the following:
This is much better, but there's still a problem. If there are not enough buttons to cause the JScrollPane to scroll, the buttons height are not consistent and will resize as you resize the window vertically. Why?
Obviously when I add 100 buttons, they use their preferred size:
Maybe I'm just not understanding the differences between minimum, preferred and maximum size? But I want the buttons to use the height they're set even if there aren't enough to cause the scroll-pane to, well, scroll. What can I do to fix this?
1) How do I even get a GridLayout within a ScrollPane?
Create a JPanel
Apply a GridLayout to the JPanel
Wrap the JPanel in a JScrollPane
For example
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 2));
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(panel);
// Add the scroll pane to what ever parent container you're using
2) How do I get said GridLayout to expand horizontally, including the added components?
That doesn't make sense with regards to all previous part of the question, you said "and have it slowly expand downward the more things I add"
Having said that, the "basic" answer is, you configure the GridLayout and let it do it's job. The above example is configured for 2 columns and n number of roes
3) How would I add a "margin" to the components?
That's a broad answer, you could:
Make use of the horizontal and vertical gap properties of the GridLayout
Use a compound layout and adjust the insets of the an appropriate layout manager (like GridBagLayout)
Recommendations
I would recommend reading through Laying Out Components Within a Container to get a better understanding of the layout managers.
Remember, you not stuck to using one.
I would also recommend reading through How to Use Scroll Panes as you're asking basic questions about the API which are better covered through the tutorials
The following mre demonstrates creating a JPanel with GridLayout warped by JScrollPane and setting its horizontal and vertival gaps.
The Jpanel is added using a BorderLayout (the default layout manager of JFrame content pane) which allows it to expand:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
public class SwingMain {
private String text ="Growing ";
private JPanel grid;
private JFrame f;
SwingMain() {
creategui();
}
void creategui(){
f = new JFrame();
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
f.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
JButton addComponentBtn = new JButton("Add Component");
addComponentBtn.addActionListener(e-> addComponent());
f.add(addComponentBtn, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
grid = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 2, 10, 10)); //any number of rows, 2 columns, H and V gap
f.add(new JScrollPane(grid), BorderLayout.CENTER);
f.pack();
f.setVisible(true);
}
void addComponent() {
grid.add(new JLabel(text) );
text +="."; //make text longer so JLable grows
f.pack();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new SwingMain();
}
}
I have a very simple Java program (see below). The GridLayout has 20 rows and 4 columns. As you know the elements are supposed to be added horizontally by (GridLayout) definition. However, I get the two elements (labels) placed one above the other, vertically.
I colored them and realised the labels take up the whole row, hence the vertical effect. But then I also used setSize(5,5) with each to make them smaller, however they still take up the whole row. Any advice as to why this happens and how to fix/set smaller size/etc?
public class Sam extends JFrame {
public JButton btn_arr;
public Container c;
public JLabel[] lbl = new JLabel[20];
public Sam()
{
c = getContentPane();
c.setLayout(new GridLayout(20,4));
lbl[1] = new JLabel("Column1");
c.add(lbl[1]);
lbl[2] = new JLabel("Column2");
c.add(lbl[2]);
show();
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Sam x = new Sam();
x.setVisible(true);
x.setSize(7500,4500);
}
}
You're only adding two components to the grid so they will fill it up. You need to add more components to the grid as placeholders so that it can place the original JLabels in their proper place, perhaps empty JLabels or JPanels.
As an aside, you should avoid setting the size of any Swing component. Your current size of 7500, 4500 is a bit on the large size.
As a second aside, perhaps you want to use a JTable instead here.
Edit: if you want a GridLayout with 4 columns and variable number of rows, use 0 for your GridLayout row constant:
c.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 4));
e.g.,
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Sam extends JFrame {
public static final int COLUMN_COUNT = 4;
public JButton btn_arr;
public Container c;
public JLabel[] lbl = new JLabel[COLUMN_COUNT];
public Sam() {
c = getContentPane();
c.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, COLUMN_COUNT));
for (int i = 0; i < lbl.length; i++) {
lbl[i] = new JLabel("Column " + (i + 1));
c.add(lbl[i]);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Sam x = new Sam();
x.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
x.pack();
x.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
x.setVisible(true);
// x.setSize(7500,4500);
}
}
But still I wonder if a JTable wouldn't work better here.
One thing to keep in mind with the GridLayout is it that it is designed to cover the entire containing panel sizing the cells as equally as possible, and elements added to the cells will be expanded to fill the entire cell. So as the cell sizes change, the labels will also change in size. Effectively grid cells force an expansion/contraction in both X and Y direction of all contained elements.
One way to prevent that from happening if you must use the GridLayout is to not add the labels directly to the container that uses the GridLayout, but instead put each label inside a JPanel that uses a FlowLayout (the default) that you can set alignment of either Left, Middle or Right, then add that JPanel to the Grid container. The JPanel will be resized but it will not change the size of the Label.
Or use the GridBagLayout manager. More complex, but once you understand it, it makes life easier. But as Hovercraft mentioned, if what you are trying to do is create a grid with column headers, a JTable might be a better option.
I'm making what is basically a toolbar that contains a search field and some buttons. I'd like for the search field to grow in size (just the width) when the parent container gets wider, like when the user adjusts the split pane. Currently, the text field and the buttons will remain the same size and whitespace is added on either side as the container is widened. I can achieve this growing effect by using a BorderLayout in the container and putting the buttons on LINE_END and the text field in the CENTER. The problem I have with this is that the text field now becomes taller than a standard text field and it looks ugly. This behavior makes sense as the BorderLayout manager will give all the extra space (this includes vertical and hortizontal space) to the CENTER text field. I've tried to restrict this vertical growth by placing a maximum size on the text field, but BorderLayout will not honor it.
Here's what I've got:
final JTextField searchField = new JTextField("Enter your search terms");
searchField.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 25));
final JPanel controls = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
controls.add(searchField, BorderLayout.CENTER);
controls.add(new JPanel(){{
add(new JButton("Search")); add(new JButton("I'm Feeling Lucky"));
}}, BorderLayout.LINE_END);
It would seem that this behavior is a commonly desired one and it should be easy to implement, but I've had no luck after looking through all the Oracle/Sun tutorials and Google search results.
Anybody have any solutions to this? I need to stick with standard Java Swing components - no third party libraries please.
Thank you!
I would suggest you to use GridBagLayout , it is complicated but it is the most powerful layout.. When you learn it, you would not have any layout issue.
Here is the sample use of gridbaglayout for this question...
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class GridBagLayoutExample extends JFrame {
GridBagLayoutExample() {
initUI();
}
private void initUI() {
final JTextField searchField = new JTextField("Enter your search terms");
final JPanel controls = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
c.weightx=1.0;
c.fill=GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
controls.add(searchField,c);
controls.add(new JPanel(){
{
add(new JButton("Search")); add(new JButton("I'm Feeling Lucky")); }});
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(controls, BorderLayout.NORTH);
pack();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new GridBagLayoutExample().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
it's a two part problem:
a) all xxSize (xx = min/max/pref) are mere hints to the LayoutManager. Each and every LayoutManager has its own behaviour if/how/when it respects those hints and if/how/when it violates one or more if the overall space is more or less than would fit the sum of pref for all components in the container. No way but learn which does what (documentation is ... ehem ... suboptimal)
b) JTextField is a bit crazy in allowing its height to grow indefinitely if space allows. Implying that even LayoutManagers which respect max (like f.i. BoxLayout) have no chance to do so, max is Integer.MAX_VALUE (or Short.MAX? forgot). To make it behave, subclass and override maxSize to return the pref height:
#Override
Dimension getMaximumSize() {
Dimension max = super.getMaximumSize();
max.height = getPreferredSize().height;
return max;
}
You should be able to use a horizontal BoxLayout.
searchField.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 25));
You should not guess at the height of the text field.
Dimension d = searchField.getPreferredSize();
d.width = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
searchField.setMaximumSize(d);
I know you said you don't want to use 3rd party libraries, but as a side note you might want to look at Text Field Prompt. It allows you to display a message that will disapear when you start typing in the text field.
Using BoxLayout.
JTextField search_field = new JTextField("Enter search term");
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS));
panel.add(search_field);
This will dynamically change the size of textfield when resizing the frame.