How can I implement a java GUI that has multiple rows of buttons spaced equally apart from one another

Question

I'm trying to get 4 buttons on my top row, 4 buttons on the bottom row, and I need a button below that one- it's a voting application with each of the buttons representing a candidate. initializeThings() is the only method called from the init method of this applet. The Person class is simply a container for 3 Strings representing the name, position the candidate's running for, and other information about them. My main problem is really just figuring out how to format it with the 4 buttons on the top row, 4 on the bottom, and the vote button below the bottom row.

public class MainElectionWindow extends JApplet implements ActionListener, MouseListener{
private JPanel panel, topRow, bottomRow, voteBtnRow;
private JButton person1But,person2But,person3But,person4But,person5But,person6But,person7But,person8But,castVote;
private Person person1,person2,person3,person4,person5,person6,person7,person8;
private ImageIcon pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6, pic7, pic8;

private static final int HORIZONTAL_SPACING = 10;
private static final int VERTICAL_SPACING = 20;


private void initializeThings() {


// Initialize variables
topRow = new JPanel();
topRow.setLayout(new BoxLayout(topRow,BoxLayout.X_AXIS));

bottomRow = new JPanel();
bottomRow.setLayout(new BoxLayout(bottomRow,BoxLayout.X_AXIS));

voteBtnRow = new JPanel();


//Create people with names, position they're running for, and other info
person1 = new Person("Name 1", "Pos 1", "Other Info 1");
person2 = new Person("Name 2", "Pos 2", "Other Info 2");
person3 = new Person("Name 3", "Pos 3", "Other Info 3");
person4 = new Person("Name 4", "Pos 4", "Other Info 4");
person5 = new Person("Name 5", "Pos 5", "Other Info 5");
person6 = new Person("Name 6", "Pos 6", "Other Info 6");
person7 = new Person("Name 7", "Pos 7", "Other Info 7");
person8 = new Person("Name 8", "Pos 8", "Other Info 8");

pic1 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic2 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic3 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic4 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic5 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic6 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic7 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");
pic8 = new ImageIcon("facebackground.png");


// Get the content pane
Container container = this.getContentPane();

// Add panel to container
container.add(topRow);
container.add(bottomRow);
container.add(voteBtnRow);

person1But = new JButton(pic1);
person2But = new JButton(pic2);
person3But = new JButton(pic3);
person4But = new JButton(pic4);
person5But = new JButton(pic5);
person6But = new JButton(pic6);
person7But = new JButton(pic7);
person8But = new JButton(pic8);
castVote = new JButton("Vote");

// Add action listeners
person1But.addActionListener(this);
person2But.addActionListener(this);
person3But.addActionListener(this);
person4But.addActionListener(this);
person5But.addActionListener(this);
person6But.addActionListener(this);
person7But.addActionListener(this);
person8But.addActionListener(this);
castVote.addActionListener(this);

//Add Mouse Listeners
person1But.addMouseListener(this);
person2But.addMouseListener(this);
person3But.addMouseListener(this);
person4But.addMouseListener(this);
person5But.addMouseListener(this);
person6But.addMouseListener(this);
person7But.addMouseListener(this);
person8But.addMouseListener(this);


// Add components to the visual panel1
topRow.add(person1But);
topRow.add(person2But);
topRow.add(person3But);
topRow.add(person4But);
bottomRow.add(person5But);
bottomRow.add(person6But);
bottomRow.add(person7But);
bottomRow.add(person8But);
voteBtnRow.add(castVote);


// Make it visible
//person1But.requestFocusInWindow();

add(container);

setVisible(true);
}

Thanks for taking the time to read this/help

Answer 1

I suggest you take a look at GridBagLayout and once you figure out how to use it, your user interface will be easy to do.