Question

Here is a screenshot of my JFrame. This will be the main window to my application.

So the problem is that all the buttons are inline with each other, whereas I want them to be one under the other i.e. Add Contact under Show Contacts.

So how can I do that?

Here is my code for the JFrame.

public class CRUDFrame extends JFrame {
    public CRUDFrame(){
        super("AppCRUD");
        setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        JButton button1, button2, button3, button4;

        button1 = new JButton(" Show Contacts ");
        button2 = new JButton(" Add Contact ");
        button3 = new JButton(" Update Number in a Contact ");
        button4 = new JButton(" Delete a Contact ");
        add(button1);       
        add(button2);  
        add(button3); 
        add(button4);
    }
}
`

Answer 1

There have been some good answers centered around ‘use a layout’. This example espouses the same advice, but also introduces the concept of nesting one layout within another. E.G. the JPanel containing the JButtons has a GridLayout. That panel is placed in the NORTH of a panel that is then added to the WEST of the main ‘gui’ panel.

The other components are added in order to show how the column of buttons might go together with other components in the main user interface.

Contact.java

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

class Contact {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable r = new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5,5));
                gui.setBorder( new EmptyBorder(3,3,3,3) );

                JPanel controls = new JPanel( new BorderLayout(5,5) );

                JPanel buttons = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1,4,4));
                buttons.add( new JButton("Show") );
                buttons.add( new JButton("Add") );
                buttons.add( new JButton("Update Number") );
                buttons.add( new JButton("Delete") );
                buttons.setBorder( new TitledBorder("Contact") );

                controls.add( buttons, BorderLayout.NORTH );

                controls.add(new JScrollPane(new JTree()), BorderLayout.CENTER);

                gui.add(controls, BorderLayout.WEST);

                gui.add(new JTextArea("CardLayout for CRUD components.",10,30));

                gui.add(new JLabel("Output label.."), BorderLayout.SOUTH);

                JToolBar toolbar = new JToolBar();
                toolbar.add(new JCheckBox("Auto save", true));
                toolbar.add(new JCheckBox("Always On Top"));
                gui.add(toolbar, BorderLayout.NORTH);

                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, gui);
            }
        };
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
    }
}

Screenshot