CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaswingawtlayout-manager
Jhoy
Jhoy

Reputation: 117

Layouts swing java

I want to create a layout like this

i want like this

This was my code (does not work):

outer.setLayout(new BorderLayout());

panel1 = new JPanel();
...
outer.add(panel1, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
outer.add(panel2, BorderLayout.LINE_START); 
outer.add(panel3, BorderLayout.CENTER); 
outer.add(panel4, BorderLayout.LINE_END); 
outer.add(panel5, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);

note: panel5 above should contain 2 more panels inside it

In the above code, I can get them on the correct places but the center one (panel3) is very big so that all others are squashed to the side.

How can i get some ratio of size in these eg 2:10:2 etc?

Should i change my layout?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 77

Answers (2)

Joop Eggen
Joop Eggen

Reputation: 109613

Use a GridBagLayout for a table/matrix like layout, where some "cells" occupy more than one slot. BorderLayout is for one central panel having some bordering panels around.

public MainFrame() {
    JPanel outer = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
    outer.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800, 600));

    JPanel panel1 = createPanel("1");
    JPanel panel2 = createPanel("2");
    JPanel panel3 = createPanel("3");
    JPanel panel4 = createPanel("4");
    JPanel panel5 = createPanel("5");

    GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
    c.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
    c.weightx = 1.0;
    c.weighty = 1.0;
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 0;
    c.gridwidth = 3; // col span
    c.gridheight = 1;
    outer.add(panel1, c);

    c.weightx = 0.33;
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 1;
    c.gridwidth = 1;
    c.gridheight = 1;
    outer.add(panel2, c);

    c.weightx = 0.33;
    c.gridx = 1;
    c.gridy = 1;
    c.gridwidth = 1;
    c.gridheight = 1;
    outer.add(panel2, c);

    c.weightx = 0.33;
    c.gridx = 2;
    c.gridy = 1;
    c.gridwidth = 1;
    c.gridheight = 1;
    outer.add(panel3, c);

    c.weightx = 0.33;
    c.gridx = 3;
    c.gridy = 1;
    c.gridwidth = 3;
    c.gridheight = 1;
    outer.add(panel4, c);

    c.weightx = 1.0;
    c.weighty = 1.0;
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 2;
    c.gridwidth = 3;
    c.gridheight = 1;
    outer.add(panel5, c);

    setContentPane(outer);
    pack();
}

private JPanel createPanel(String title) {
    JPanel panel = new JPanel();
    panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(title));
    setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 300));
    return panel;
}

There is a GridBagConstraints constructor setting all fields. Not so readable here however.

It is also a quite error prone layout.

Upvotes: 0

Alexander Heim
Alexander Heim

Reputation: 154

If you want to do something like that, using BorderLayout is a good start. So yes I would use BorderLayout as well here.

However you should change they way you are adding the panels: 

outer.add(panel1, BorderLayout.NORTH);
outer.add(panel2, BorderLayout.WEST);
outer.add(panel3, BorderLayout.CENTER);
outer.add(panel4, BorderLayout.EAST);
//Create a additional Panel for the two at the bottom
JPanel southPanelContainer = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
southPanelContainer.add(panel5, BorderLayout.EAST);
southPanelContainer.add(panel6, BorderLayout.WEST);
outer.add(southPanelContainer, BorderLayout.SOUTH);

This should already look somewhat decent, however if you still want to change the way it looks then you should add some components to those panels. The layout manager will automatically resize the panels so everything fits.

Upvotes: 1

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