Give a layout that suits the components

Question

I'm struggling to give a good layout to my Swing components. Currently FlowLayout being is used, but it doesn't look pretty. My requirement is to display the label l0 in top line. Then the label l1, combobox c1 and button b1 in second column (center aligned). Finally, the output that gets displayed in Jtable beneath. How do I do this?

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.sql.*;
import java.util.Vector;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;

public class r_search_1 extends JFrame implements ActionListener {

    JFrame frame1;
    JLabel l0, l1, l2;
    JComboBox c1;
    JButton b1;
    Connection con;
    ResultSet rs, rs1;
    Statement st, st1;
    PreparedStatement pst;
    String ids;
    static JTable table  = new JTable();;
    String[] columnNames = {"SECTION NAME", "REPORT NAME", "CONTACT", "LINK"};
    String from;
    Vector v = new Vector();
    JMenuBar menu = new JMenuBar();

    r_search_1() 
    {


          frame1 = new JFrame("yippee");
          frame1.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
          frame1.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

        l0 = new JLabel("Fetching Search Results...");
        l0.setForeground(Color.blue);
        l0.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.BOLD, 20));
        l1 = new JLabel("Search");
        b1 = new JButton("submit");

        l0.setBounds(100, 50, 350, 40);
        l1.setBounds(75, 110, 75, 20);
        b1.setBounds(150, 150, 150, 20);
        b1.addActionListener(this);

        frame1.add(l0);
        frame1.add(l1);
        //frame1.add(b1);
        frame1.setVisible(true);
        frame1.setSize(1000, 400);


        try 
        {

            File dbFile = new File("executive_db.accdb");
            String path = dbFile.getAbsolutePath();
            con = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:odbc:Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)}; DBQ= " + path);
            Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
            st = con.createStatement();
            rs = st.executeQuery("select index_name from Index1");
           while (rs.next())
           {
                ids = rs.getString(1);
                v.add(ids);

            }
            c1 = new JComboBox(v);
            c1.setEditable(true);c1.setSelectedItem("");
            c1.setBounds(150, 110, 150, 20);

            frame1.add(c1);
            frame1.add(b1);
            st.close();
            rs.close();
        } catch (Exception e) {
        }
       // setVisible(true);
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
        if (ae.getSource() == b1) {
            showTableData();
        }
     }

    public void showTableData()
    {

        // frame1 = new JFrame("Database Search Result");
      //  frame1.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
        //frame1.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        DefaultTableModel model = new DefaultTableModel();
        model.setColumnIdentifiers(columnNames);

        table.setModel(model);
        table.setAutoResizeMode(JTable.AUTO_RESIZE_ALL_COLUMNS);
        table.setFillsViewportHeight(true);
        JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(table);
        scroll.setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_AS_NEEDED);
        scroll.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy( JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_AS_NEEDED);
        from = (String) c1.getSelectedItem();

        String section_name = "";
        String report_name = "";
        String contact_name = "";
        String link = "";


        try
        {

        pst = con.prepareStatement("select distinct Section.Section_Name,Report.Report_Name,Report.Link,Contact.Contact_Name "
                        + "FROM (( Section INNER JOIN Report ON Report.Section_ID=Section.Section_ID ) INNER JOIN Contact ON Contact.Contact_ID=Report.Contact_ID )  LEFT JOIN Metrics ON Metrics.Report_ID=Report.Report_ID  "
                        + " WHERE Section.Section_Name LIKE '%"+from+"%' OR Report.Report_Name LIKE '%"+from+"%' OR Metrics.Metric_Name LIKE '%"+from+"%' OR Contact.Contact_Name LIKE '%"+from+"%' ");
            ResultSet rs = pst.executeQuery();
            int i = 0;
            while (rs.next()) {
                section_name = rs.getString("Section_Name");
                report_name = rs.getString("Report_Name");
                contact_name = rs.getString("Contact_Name");
                link = rs.getString("Link");
                model.addRow(new Object[]{section_name, report_name, contact_name, link});
                i++;
            }
            if (i < 1) {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "No Record Found", "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
            }
            if (i == 1) {
                System.out.println(i + " Record Found");
            } else {
                System.out.println(i + " Records Found");
            }
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, ex.getMessage(), "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
        }
        frame1.add(scroll);
        frame1.setVisible(true);
      //  frame1.setSize(1000, 400);
        //table.close()
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        new r_search_1();
    }
}

This is my requirement:

Answer 1

Edit: as per advice by Andrew Thompson - a picture.

---

Here is an example of how to do it using BorderLyout for the search / submit row and table, and adding the title in a border title instead of a label:

public class Search extends JFrame  {

    private final static String TITLE = "Fetching Search Results";
    private final static String[] COLUMN_HEADERS = {"Section name", "Report name", "Contact", "Link"};
    private final static String[] SEARCH_OPTIONS = {"AAAAA", "BBBBB"};

    Search() {

        JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        mainPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(), TITLE, TitledBorder.CENTER, TitledBorder.TOP, new Font("Arial", Font.PLAIN, 20), Color.RED));

        JPanel topPanel = new JPanel();
        JLabel searchLabel = new JLabel("Search:");
        JComboBox<String> searchBox = new JComboBox<>(SEARCH_OPTIONS);
        JButton submitButton = new JButton("Submit");
        topPanel.add(searchLabel);
        topPanel.add(searchBox);
        topPanel.add(submitButton);

        JTable table = new JTable(new String[34][4], COLUMN_HEADERS);

        mainPanel.add(topPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
        mainPanel.add(new JScrollPane(table));

        setContentPane(mainPanel);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        pack();
        setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) {

        new Search();
    }
}

If you want the title as a label, you can put another panel for it.

Answer 2

Notes

1. It is named PoorlySpecifiedLayout because you forgot the part about.. "and (if resizable) with extra width/height."
2. The UI is naturally taller than seen above. It was shortened to make a better screenshot.

---

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;

public class PoorlySpecifiedLayout {

    // the GUI as seen by the user (without frame)
    JPanel ui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5,5));
    String[] comboValues = {
        "String to pad combo."
    };
    String[] tableHeader = {
        "Section Name","Report Name","Contact","Link"
    };
    String[][] tableBody = {{"", "", "", ""}};
        
    PoorlySpecifiedLayout() {
        initUI();
    }

    public final void initUI() {
        ui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(20,20,20,20));
        
        JPanel top = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(15, 5));
        ui.add(top, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
        
        top.add(new JLabel(
                "Fetching search results", SwingConstants.CENTER));
        JPanel controls = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(SwingConstants.LEADING, 10, 5));
        top.add(controls, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
        controls.add(new JLabel("Search:"));
        controls.add(new JComboBox(comboValues));
        JButton submit = new JButton("submit");
        Insets padButton = new Insets(5,20,5,20);
        submit.setMargin(padButton);
        controls.add(submit);
        JTable table = new JTable(tableBody, tableHeader);
        ui.add(new JScrollPane(table));
    }
    
    public final JComponent getUI(){
        return ui;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable r = new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
             PoorlySpecifiedLayout psl = new PoorlySpecifiedLayout();   

                JFrame f = new JFrame("Poorly Specified Layout");
                f.add(psl.getUI());
                // 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
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
    }
}