I am kind of newbie em Java and right now I am trying to program a simple GUI. Recently, I was looking for some kind of GroupBox (for WindowBuilder if possible), like the "Search" and "Overview" Groupboxes in the following image: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img812/7239/jxsv.jpg
So, which graphical object would be nice for it?
Take a look at using a TitledBorder that includes a lowered etched (EtchedBorder.LOWERED) border on a separate JPanel container using Swings BorderFactory. Read How to Use Borders
You would simply place the controls onto a JPanel with a TitledBorder.
Further reading: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/border.html
I am using the NetBeans 7.2.1 GUI Builder. I could do all of this by hand. Instead, I am using my current project to learn how this tool works so that I can make an informed decision of when to use it in the futre (if at all).
Now with help of archived questions here, I have figured out how to change the LayoutManager to a CardLayout. I have also added three JPanels to the layout (although, there seems to be a bug...maybe a question about that later). The first JPanel displayed by the CardLayout will have two buttons. Each button will cause the CardLayout to display one of the other two JPanels. To do this, I found that I can use CardLayout#show(Container, String).
I need to know what the value of the String is for each JPanel. Doing some further research, I found that NetBeans generates a line of code such as
getContentPane().add(addCardsPanel, "card2");
So I can use "card2" to show addCardsPanel. It would be convenient to use a more applicable String. Will NetBeans allow me to set this identifying String to whatever value I wish? If so, how do I do it?
In the Navigator window select the panel you want.
In the Properties window scroll down to the Layout group. You'll see a Card Name property. Knock your self out ;)
In the Java Swing app I made it seems to me that all the component are too tightly packed.
In QT one can specify padding and margins for the layout.
Is there something similar for swing?
alt text http://img12.yfrog.com/img12/9612/screenshotscreenerconfi.png
Here is a screen shot of my application that I thing is too tight (is it? what do you think?.
Thanks.
Take a look to the GridBagLayoutManager. Its the most compex layout manager but everything can be acomplished whith it.
It uses the GridBagConstraintObject which has the inset property, it specifies the separation to the top, bottom, left and right components.
example: GridBagConstraintObject.insets.left=20
You could use MiGLayout as your layout manager. It allows all kinds of customizations, including margins/paddings.
You could achieve a much better layout for the example above by using DesignGridLayout in just a couple of lines of code (one per row in your layout). DesignGridLayout will automatically use the correct spacing for the runtime platform.
besides I would highly suggest that you DON'T use TitledBorders in your form because it prevents ANY LayoutManager (as advanced as it may be) from automatically aligning correctly the various components across different groups. Instead you could use a JLabel with a JSeparator (there are examples in DesignGridLayout, but this works with any other LayoutManager).
Since Java 1.6 swing there is a new GroupLayout manager that make this kind of works easier.
For instance there is a method: setAutoCreateGaps() that:
...you add two components to a SequentialGroup a gap between the two components is automatically be created...
For instance:
What LayoutManager are you using? Adding margins is quite easy, it depends however on the specific LayoutManager used.
FormLayout is another good layout manager. With a good GUI editor like JFormDesigner it makes GUI building easy enough. JFormDesigner actually automatically adds sufficient padding in most cases. I have to recommend against using GridBagLayout. It does the job alright, but is very complex which makes it difficult to use and maintain.
How do I create a horizontal JSeparator with a title label in Java Swing?
Something like this:
--- Title XYZ --------------------
I found a solution: SwingX JXTitledSeparator. We already use SwingX in our project. I didn't know that SwingX provides a titled separator.
#Bombe Thank you for your help.
Hmm… without any testing and completely from the top of my head:
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Title"));
menu.add(panel);
Most Swing containers eat anything so that might even work.
Another approach would be to create a custom component (maybe with a horizontal BoxLayout) and add a JSeparator, a JLabel, and another JSeparator to it, then add it to the menu.
What java GUI layout manager does everyone use? Lately, I have been using MigLayout, which has some powerful component controls. Just wanted to see what other developers are using other than the standard JDK ones.
MiGLayout is the GUI layout manager which is widely used by Java Developers.
GridBagLayout is usable. Once you get used to using it, it works great. I think the standard JDK layout managers are pretty powerful on their own. Plus, you get to minimize dependency on 3rd party libraries.
MiG and FormLayout (JGoodies) are both excellent for manual layout (And almost all layout eventually becomes manual). My biggest piece of advice is to design your views so that you can completely rip out the layout and re-implement it without impacting your application (good separation of view and controller is key here).
Definitely take a look at JGoodie's PresentationModel approach for implementing 'dumb' views. I use this technique with a GUI builder (I use GroupLayout with the Jigloo GUI builder plugin) for tossing off quick prototypes. After 3 or 4 iterations, that usually goes out the window and we do a re-implement using MiG or FormLayout.
EDIT: Since I wrote this, I have moved to using MiG for all of my layouts, and I no longer use a GUI builder - it's just way too easy to lay things out using MiG.
The last Swing application I worked on used JGoodies' FormsLayout.
I use the GridBagLayout. It seems to take alot of code, but it makes very good looking layouts.
I also like to combine BorderLayout with GridBagLayout panels for great customizability.
I'm a big fan of using TableLayout instead of GridBagLayout. Everything just makes sense, whereas every time I try to use GridBagLayout it crushes my soul.
I use to go for GridBagLayout for the control, but since java1.6 I'm going to use GroupLayout Is awsome.
Here an screenshot and sample code to use it!.
alt text http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7844/screenshot1dz8.png
private void layoutComponents(){
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
GroupLayout layout = new GroupLayout(panel);
panel.setLayout(layout);
layout.setAutoCreateGaps(true);
layout.setAutoCreateContainerGaps(true);
SequentialGroup hGroup = layout.createSequentialGroup();
JLabel nameLbl = new JLabel("Name");
JLabel countLbl = new JLabel("Amount");
JLabel dateLbl = new JLabel("Date(dd/MM/yy)");
hGroup.addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup().
addComponent(nameLbl).
addComponent(countLbl).
addComponent(dateLbl).
addComponent(go));
hGroup.addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup().
addComponent(name).
addComponent(count).
addComponent(date));
layout.setHorizontalGroup(hGroup);
SequentialGroup vGroup = layout.createSequentialGroup();
vGroup.addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup(Alignment.BASELINE).
addComponent(nameLbl).addComponent(name));
vGroup.addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup(Alignment.BASELINE).
addComponent(countLbl).addComponent(count));
vGroup.addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup(Alignment.BASELINE).
addComponent(dateLbl).addComponent(date));
vGroup.addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup(Alignment.BASELINE).
addComponent(go));
layout.setVerticalGroup(vGroup);
frame.add( panel , BorderLayout.NORTH );
frame.add( new JScrollPane( textArea ) );
}
I use DesignGridLayout for most of my panels.
For the rare panels that DesignGridLayout cannot fully handle, I use a mix of Borderlayout and DesignGridLayout.
With DesigngridLayout you can manually code your layouts with a minimum number of lines of code, that are easy to type and read:
DesignGridLayouut layout = new DesignGridLayout(myPanel);
layout.row().grid(lblFirstName).add(txfFirstName).grid(lblSurName).add(txfSurName);
layout.row().grid(lblAddress).add(txfAddress);
layout.row().center().add(btnOK, btnCancel);
Each row of the panel grid is defined by one line of code. As you can see, "drawing" your panel is quite straightforward.
In addition, I find DesignGridLayout has some unique features (such as its "smart vertical resize").
GridBagLayout is powerful but quite primitively: the code that wires up the layout is very verbose. This utility library (actual just 1 jar file containing about 10 classes) simplifies a lot of works: http://code.google.com/p/painless-gridbag/ The following snippet is quoted from the home page of that site:
PainlessGridBag gbl = new PainlessGridBag(getContentPane(), false);
gbl.row().cell(lblFirstName).cell(txtFirstName).fillX()
.cell(lblFamilyName).cell(txtFamilyName).fillX();
gbl.row().cell(lblAddress).cellXRemainder(txtAddress).fillX();
gbl.doneAndPushEverythingToTop();
As a general overview, you might find an article I wrote a loooong time ago at sun to be useful. It's not up to date with the latest layout managers, but it concentrates on effective nesting of layout managers, rather than trying to do everything with one layout.
See http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/GUI/AWTLayoutMgr
I've found that for any non-trivial GUI I use multiple layouts with nested sub-panels where the main panel may have a GridBagLayout and each sub-panel (typically without a border or indication that it is a panel) uses a simpler layout where possible. Typically I'll use BorderLayout, FlowLayout, and BoxLayout for smaller, simpler sub-panels. By dividing small sections of the GUI into sub-panels and using the simplest layout possible to control that section of the GUI you can create complex, well arranged displays without too much headache from GridBagLayout's many options. Also, by grouping like display functionality into a panel, it creates more readable code.
Spring layout which was developed for the mantissa gui builder which is part of netbeans.
I've used GroupLayout as well. Again, its a standard JDK layout manager as of Java6, but you can find the library separate as well.
I've always been a big fan of the GridBagLayout. It resembles HTML tables a lot so it is intuitive to those web programmers.
I started off using various nested layouts, then moved over to GridBagLayout (which is pretty frustrating). Since then I tried FormLayout (but found it wasn't suited to anything but forms) and settled firmly on TableLayout, which overall I'm very happy with.
Since then I've discovered MiGLayout and although I haven't done much more than play with it, it seems very capable, quite similar to TableLayout and probably a little cleaner.
The big plus for me is that MiGLayout is set to become part of the JDK, so I intend to use it pretty much exclusively when it does.
The other thing to remember is that no matter which heavy-weight LayoutManager you settle on, there is always a place for some of the simpler layout managers such as GridLayout. I've seen some horrible things done with GridBagLayout that could have been done much more easily with a simpler layout manager.
I prefer to minimize dependencies on 3rd party libs, so it's usually BoxLayout for dialogs and GridBagLayout for "complicated" layouts. GridBagLayout is easy enough to understand, but a bit hard to configure. I wrote myself a tool for creating the code from HTML layouts (hope that helps others too):
http://www.onyxbits.de/content/blog/patrick/java-gui-building-gridbaglayout-manager-made-easy
The only layout manager that I have found, that I actually like is the Relative Layout Manager. The Relative Layout Manager works in a way that is consistent with how dialog boxes are conceptually organized. One draw-back is that while this layout manager deals with additive constraints. It does not seem to deal with ratio constraints. Fortunately it is pretty well designed, and I was able to implement this feature.
I use BorderLayout 90% of the time while nesting BoxLayout and SpringLayout
I'm a bit of Java newbie.
I tried GridBagLayout, gave up, then tried BoxLayout, then gave up, then made my own Custom Layout which worked. With GridBag and Box I put my best guess in and the Layout engines decided to do something different, without any apparent way to debug them.
With my custom layout, I could print out coordinates and widths and heights, to find out where it was going wrong. Its a bit mathy placing things but you've got the full power of java to use rather than the limited vocabulary of one of the builtin layout managers.
Of course it was just for a home project, you'd never be allowed to do this at work.
I use GridBagLayout for form like layouts, use BorderLayout for simple layouts, and FlowLayout for number of horizontal icons/buttons that have some spaces in between. Netbeans is also a good GUI builder that can avoid a lot of tedious layout codings to save your time.
I have started using Swing recently and I am using GridBagLayout.
I was sick of all those layoutmanagers that needed alot of setup, werent very readable or exhausting to do manually, so I wrote my own very simple laoutmanager which uses the abstraction of two photocorners keeping each component in place. You can add your component like this: parent.add(child,"topleft(0, 0.5)bottomright(0.5,1.0)");
Have a look here https://github.com/hageldave/UsefulStuff/blob/master/src/PhotoCornersLayout.java ;)
you're responisble for a correct layout yourself though, cause it's not checking overlappings or other shortcommings of your layout.