CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaswinglayoutlayout-manager
user93353
user93353

Reputation: 14049

Java Swing Layouts - Which layout to use

I am trying to learn Swing Programming.

I have read the Java Documentation on different kinds of layouts. I have read a few tutorials also. But I am not really able to figure out what Layout is to be used for anything more than a very simple Dialog. I want to do this by code (not through WindowBuilder Pro) just so that I get a hang of it.

This is a Dialog I want to build.

enter image description here

Nothing except the Notes is editable.

What is best Layout to use for this kind of Dialog?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 886

Answers (3)

Jan Bodnar
Jan Bodnar

Reputation: 11657

MigLayout first, GroupLayout second.

A sample solution with MigLayout:

package com.zetcode;

import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import net.miginfocom.swing.MigLayout;

/**
 * A practical example of MigLayout manager.
 * @author Jan Bodnar
 * Website: zetcode.com
 */
public class CustomerDetailsMigLayoutEx extends JFrame {

    public CustomerDetailsMigLayoutEx() {

        initUI();
    }

    private void initUI() {

        JLabel custId1 = new JLabel("Cust Id");
        JLabel custId2 = new JLabel("A52501235");

        JLabel name1 = new JLabel("Name");
        JLabel name2 = new JLabel("Joe Beer");

        JLabel address1 = new JLabel("Address");
        JLabel address2 = new JLabel("112, 1st Street, City, State, Country");

        JLabel orders = new JLabel("<html><u style='font-size:13px'>Last 3 Orders</u></html>");

        JLabel date1 = new JLabel("11 Dec 2015");
        JLabel date2 = new JLabel("17 Dec 2015");
        JLabel date3 = new JLabel("19 Dec 2015");

        JTextArea area1 = new JTextArea(7, 28);
        area1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());

        JTextArea area2 = new JTextArea(7, 28);
        area2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());

        JTextArea area3 = new JTextArea(7, 28);
        area3.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());

        JTextArea area4 = new JTextArea(7, 28);
        area4.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());        

        JButton btn1 = new JButton("Submit");
        JButton btn2 = new JButton("Cancel");

        createLayout(custId1, custId2, name1, name2, address1, address2, 
                orders, date1, area1, date2, area2, date3, area3, 
                area4, btn1, btn2);

        setTitle("MigLayout example");
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    }

    private void createLayout(JComponent... arg) {

        setLayout(new MigLayout("insets dialog, align 50% 50%, gap 5lp 7lp"));

        add(arg[0], "split 2, sgx");
        add(arg[1], "gapx 15lp, wrap");
        add(arg[2], "split 2, sgx");
        add(arg[3], "gapx 15lp, wrap");
        add(arg[4], "split 2, sgx");
        add(arg[5], "gapx 15lp, wrap");        
        add(arg[6], "gapy unrel, wrap");
        add(arg[7], "gapy rel, split 2");
        add(arg[8], "wrap");
        add(arg[9], "split 2");
        add(arg[10], "wrap");
        add(arg[11], "split 2");
        add(arg[12], "wrap");
        add(arg[13], "growx");        
        add(arg[14], "split 2, flowy");    
        add(arg[15]);    
        pack();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
            CustomerDetailsMigLayoutEx ex = new CustomerDetailsMigLayoutEx();
            ex.setVisible(true);
        });
    }
}

Screenshot:

Screenshot of the code example

Upvotes: 2

Igor Kudryashov
Igor Kudryashov

Reputation: 363

MigLayout - for Java developers writing GUI layouts by hand that wants simplicity and power.

Upvotes: 5

J&#233;r&#232;m Le Blond
J&#233;r&#232;m Le Blond

Reputation: 701

In order to perform your kind of layout, you can use GridBagLayout or GroupLayout.

Here a usefull link to understand layouts: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/layout/visual.html

As seen on the diagram, you'll need to have some columns (2 by row).

In order to do this,
GridBagLayout aligns components by placing them within a grid of cells.
Whereas GroupLayout works with the horizontal and vertical layouts separately. The layout is defined for each dimension independently.

So for your example, you'll have to define 3 Panels (CustInfo, Lastorders and Notes), defined by a Group or GridBagLayout

Upvotes: 5

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