GUI FlowLayout, lock all components position

Question

I've been searching around and cannot find anything on locking the position of components in a window while using a FlowLayout. I was using GridLayout, besides not liking the look of it, I wasn't able to adjust the size of the JTextArea. I got everything on the window exactly where I'd like it and the correct size unless the user resizes the window then everything goes all over the place.

Is there any way to lock the JTextArea/JButtons/JLabels so if the user resizes the window they do not move, or maybe even better lock the window so it cannot be adjusted by the user?

Here's what I have tried:

public class CopyFile extends JFrame{

private JFileChooser fc;
private JButton copyButton;
private JButton chooseFileButton;
private JButton destinationButton;
private File workingDirectory;
private JLabel sourceLabel;
private JTextArea displayCopyText;
private JLabel destinationLabel;
private JTextField sourceText;
private JLabel copyText;
private JTextField destinationText;

public static void main(String [] args) {
    CopyFile go = new CopyFile();
    go.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    go.setSize(500, 150);
    go.setVisible(true);
}

public CopyFile() {
    super("Copy a text file");
    setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    fc = new JFileChooser();

    //Open dialog box inside project folder to make easier to find files
    workingDirectory = new File(System.getProperty("user.dir"));
    fc.setCurrentDirectory(workingDirectory);
    //create labels and buttons for window
    chooseFileButton = new JButton("CHOOSE SOURCE FILE");
    destinationButton = new JButton("DESTINATION FOLDER");
    copyButton = new JButton("COPY FILE");      
    sourceLabel = new JLabel("SOURCE FILE: ", JLabel.CENTER);
    sourceText = new JTextField(15);
    sourceText.setEditable(false);
    destinationText = new JTextField(15);
    destinationText.setEditable(false); 
    destinationLabel = new JLabel("DESTINATION:", JLabel.CENTER);
    //JScrollPane SP = new JScrollPane();       
    displayCopyText = new JTextArea();
    displayCopyText.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 50));
    displayCopyText.setRows(2);
    displayCopyText.setLineWrap(true);
    displayCopyText.setWrapStyleWord(true);
    displayCopyText.setEditable(false);     



    //add everything to JFrame  
    add(sourceLabel);
    add(sourceText);
    add(chooseFileButton);  
    add(destinationLabel);
    add(destinationText);
    add(destinationButton);
    //add(copyText);
    add(displayCopyText);
    add(copyButton);

    //Create TheHandler object to add action listeners for the buttons.
    TheHandler handler = new TheHandler();
    chooseFileButton.addActionListener(handler);
    destinationButton.addActionListener(handler);
    copyButton.addActionListener(handler);
}

//Inner class to create action listeners    
private class TheHandler implements ActionListener {
    private File selectedDestinationFile;
    private File selectedSourceFile;
    private int returnVal;
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {



        //Selecting a source file and displaying what the user is doing.
        if(event.getSource() == chooseFileButton) {     
            returnVal = fc.showOpenDialog(null);
            //Set the path for the source file. 
            if(returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {  
                selectedSourceFile = fc.getSelectedFile();
                sourceText.setText(selectedSourceFile.getName());   
            }       
        }//end if

        //Handle destination button.
        if(event.getSource() == destinationButton) {
            returnVal = fc.showSaveDialog(null);
            if(returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
                selectedDestinationFile = fc.getSelectedFile();
                destinationText.setText(fc.getSelectedFile().getAbsolutePath());    
            }               
        }//end if

        //Handle copy button
        if(event.getSource() == copyButton) {
            Path sourcePath = selectedSourceFile.toPath();
            Path destinationPath = selectedDestinationFile.toPath();        
            try {
                Files.copy(sourcePath,  destinationPath);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }   

            if(returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {      
                displayCopyText.append("SUCCESSFULLY COPIED:\n" 
                                + selectedDestinationFile.getName());   
            }
            else {
                displayCopyText.append("COPY WAS CANCELED BY USER.\n");
            }   
        }//end if

    }//end actionPerformed      
}//end TheHandler class
}//end class

Answer 1

You can use JFrame::setResizable(false) to lock the window being resizable.

So your code may be like

public static void main(String[] args) {
        CopyFile go = new CopyFile();
        go.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

        go.setResizable(false);   //No resize is possible

       go.setSize(500, 150);
       go.setVisible(true);
}

This may solve your this problem

Using fixed size is a very very bad idea. Try to use more flexible layout may be combination of layout to achieve you goal. About layout manager see here.

Try to follow the answer of Hovercraft .