The display layout is faulty in JFrame

Question

I am new to Java JFrame.

I want the user to insert IP and password, and then click on the runBtn.

But after when running this code, the display is very small:

How can I make the text box bigger and the screen tidier, so the user can insert value and click the button?

public class Auditgui extends JFrame{
    private JPanel mainPanel;
    private JPanel textPanel;
    private JPanel consolePanel;
    private JPanel btnPanel;

    private JButton runBtn;

    private JTextField ip;
    private JTextField password;

    private JLabel ipLabel;
    private JLabel passwordLabel;

    private JTextPane textArea1;
    private JScrollPane scroll;

    public Auditgui(){

        mainPanel = new JPanel();
        setContentPane(mainPanel);

        textPanel = new JPanel();

        ipLabel = new JLabel();
        ipLabel.setText("IP");
        passwordLabel = new JLabel();
        passwordLabel.setText("Password");


        ip = new JTextField();
        password = new JTextField();

        textPanel.add(ipLabel);
        textPanel.add(ip);
        textPanel.add(passwordLabel);
        textPanel.add(password);

        consolePanel = new JPanel();
        scroll = new JScrollPane();
        textArea1 = new JTextPane();
        scroll.setViewportView(textArea1);
        consolePanel.add(scroll);

        btnPanel = new JPanel();
        runBtn = new JButton();
        btnPanel.add(runBtn);

        mainPanel.add(textPanel);
        mainPanel.add(consolePanel);
        mainPanel.add(btnPanel);

        textPanel.setSize(400, 300);
        textPanel.setAlignmentX(1);

    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Auditgui auditGui = new Auditgui();
        auditGui.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        auditGui.setSize(700, 500);
        auditGui.setTitle("Recorder");
        auditGui.setVisible(true);
    }
}

Answer 1

Oracle has a helpful tutorial, Creating a GUI With Swing. Skip the Learning Swing with the NetBeans IDE section.

When creating a Swing GUI, you work from the inside out. First, you define the swing components. Then, you let the Swing layout managers size the JPanels. Finally, you pack the JFrame.

Here's a GUI I came up with based on the code you posted in your question.

All Swing applications must start with a call to the SwingUtilities invokeLater method. This method ensures that the Swing components are created and executed on the Event Dispatch Thread.

A JFrame has a default BorderLayout. You should create one or more JPanels to place on the JFrame. I created a logon JPanel and a text JPanel. You should create each JPanel in a separate method or class. This makes the code easier to understand and makes it easier to rearrange JPanels if you decide you want a different JPanel layout.

I used a GridBagLayout for the logon JPanel. A GridBagLayout is useful for creating forms made up of JLabels and JTextFields. You should create the Swing components for a JPanel in column, row order. This makes it easier for people to understand your code.

I used a BorderLayout for the text JPanel. I have no idea what this text area is used for. I placed the text area inside of a JScrollPane so you can type as much text as you wish.

Here's the complete runnable code.

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.Insets;

import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JPasswordField;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;

public class AuditGUI implements Runnable {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new AuditGUI());
    }
    
    private JPasswordField passwordField;
    
    private JTextField ipField;

    @Override
    public void run() {
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("Recorder");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        
        frame.add(createLogonPanel(), BorderLayout.WEST);
        frame.add(createTextPanel(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
        
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }
    
    private JPanel createLogonPanel() {
        JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
        panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
        
        GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
        gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.LINE_START;
        gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
        gbc.insets = new Insets(0, 5, 5, 5);
        
        gbc.gridwidth = 1;
        gbc.gridx = 0;
        gbc.gridy = 0;
        JLabel label = new JLabel("IP:");
        panel.add(label, gbc);
        
        gbc.gridx++;
        ipField = new JTextField(20);
        panel.add(ipField, gbc);
        
        gbc.gridx = 0;
        gbc.gridy++;
        label = new JLabel("Password:");
        panel.add(label, gbc);
        
        gbc.gridx++;
        passwordField = new JPasswordField(20);
        panel.add(passwordField, gbc);
        
        gbc.gridwidth = 2;
        gbc.gridx = 0;
        gbc.gridy++;
        JButton button = new JButton("Login");
        panel.add(button, gbc);
        
        return panel;
    }
    
    private JPanel createTextPanel() {
        JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
        
        JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(5, 40);
        JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(textArea);
        panel.add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        
        return panel;
    }

}