Java Swing horizontal layout of components of varying heights

Question

My Java 8 Swing program builds a UI dynamically based on a simple DSL:

RADIO(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA;one;two;three) TEXT(B) TEXT(CCCCCC) RADIO(D;four;five;six;seven;eight;9;10)

should produce a horizontal sequence of JRadioButtons and JTextFields like:

 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  B             CCCCCC         D
 (*) one           [-----------] [-----------]  (*) four
 ( ) two                                        ( ) five
 ( ) three                                      ( ) six
                                                ( ) seven
                                                ( ) eight
                                                ( ) 9
                                                ( ) 10

where width and height of the text fields is the same and the radio fields vary based on values. The field types and order is completely up to the DSL.

My initial GroupLayout implementation is simple:

Group horizontalGroup = layout.createSequentialGroup();
fields.forEach(field -> horizontalGroup.addComponent(field));
layout.setHorizontalGroup(horizontalGroup);

Group verticalGroup = layout.createParallelGroup();
fields.forEach(field -> verticalGroup.addComponent(field));
layout.setVerticalGroup(verticalGroup);

and the RADIO and TEXT fields are:

private void radioField(JLabel label, List<JRadioButton> radioButtons) {
    GroupLayout gl = new GroupLayout(this);
    setLayout(gl);

    gl.setAutoCreateContainerGaps(true);

    Group horizontalGroup = gl.createParallelGroup();
    horizontalGroup.addComponent(label);
    radioButtons.forEach(radioValue -> horizontalGroup.addComponent(radioValue));

    gl.setHorizontalGroup(horizontalGroup);

    SequentialGroup verticalGroup = gl.createSequentialGroup();
    verticalGroup.addComponent(label).addPreferredGap(LayoutStyle.ComponentPlacement.UNRELATED);
    radioButtons.forEach(radioValue -> verticalGroup.addComponent(radioValue));

    gl.setVerticalGroup(verticalGroup);
}

private void textField(JLabel label, JTextField field) {
    GroupLayout gl = new GroupLayout(this);
    setLayout(gl);

    gl.setAutoCreateContainerGaps(true);

    gl.setHorizontalGroup(gl.createParallelGroup()
            .addComponent(label)
            .addComponent(field)
    );

    gl.setVerticalGroup(gl.createSequentialGroup()
            .addComponent(label)
            .addPreferredGap(LayoutStyle.ComponentPlacement.UNRELATED)
            .addComponent(field)
    );
}

but it looks terrible is not viable:

While I like the simplicity of the GroupLayout, I'm starting to wonder if another layout might be needed. I'm willing to try others, especially MigLayout, but if GroupLayout can do it, all the better. Any ideas?

Answer 1

With two additional lines of code, the GridLayout implementation is now viable by linking the size of all the components:

Group horizontalGroup = layout.createSequentialGroup();
fields.forEach(field -> horizontalGroup.addComponent(field));
layout.setHorizontalGroup(horizontalGroup);

Group verticalGroup = layout.createParallelGroup();
fields.forEach(field -> verticalGroup.addComponent(field));
layout.setVerticalGroup(verticalGroup);

layout.linkSize(fields.toArray(new Component[0]));             // <-- ADDITION

and sets the maximum height of the text fields:

private void textField(JLabel label, JTextField field) {
    GroupLayout gl = new GroupLayout(this);
    setLayout(gl);

    field.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(Short.MAX_VALUE, 20));  // <-- ADDITION

    gl.setAutoCreateContainerGaps(true);

    gl.setHorizontalGroup(gl.createParallelGroup()
            .addComponent(label)
            .addComponent(field)
    );

    gl.setVerticalGroup(gl.createSequentialGroup()
            .addComponent(label)
            .addPreferredGap(LayoutStyle.ComponentPlacement.UNRELATED)
            .addComponent(field)
    );
}