Question

I’m creating a Java swing app and I’m having a real hard time getting elements positioned nicely.

How would I go about making the input boxes and combo boxes to say 30px high? Also, how would I go about making the right edge of all the text line up vertically and the left edge of all the input boxes line up vertically?

I have a main JPanel which is BoxLayout.Y_AXIS, and then I have 6 JPanels on the main JPanel. These 6 JPanels are set to BorderLayout and as you can see I have used WEST for the JLabels and EAST for the input fields.

Here’s a snippet of how I’m creating the 1st panel which is on top of the main panel.

private JPanel getProtocolPanel() {

    protocolNumber.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.GREEN));
    protocolNumberInput.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.CYAN));
    protocolNumber.setVerticalAlignment(SwingConstants.TOP);

    protocolPanel = new JPanel();
    protocolPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());

    protocolPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.RED));
    protocolPanel.add(protocolNumber, BorderLayout.WEST);
    protocolPanel.add(protocolNumberInput, BorderLayout.EAST);

    return protocolPanel;
}

Let me know if there is a better way to do this type of layout.
Thanks.

Answer 1

You are either going to have to nest layouts inside each other, or use a more complex layout (Spring, GridBag, Mig), or both to get the desired effect.