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javaswingjpaneljdialog

Java swing: format content inside dialog

I am having some issues trying to format JComponent locations inside of a dialog. I feel like this is a question that has an answer already but I had some issues finding information.

I've tried using setLocation on the elements, using a custom JOptionPane/JDialog (not sure if I did those correctly though) but they always ignore the formatting of the positions. and all the elements come out in a horizontal line

enter image description here

Ideally I would like the class names at the top, the 3 member lists in the middle and the button on the bottom. I am creating the dialog like so:

JPanel createClass = new NewClass();
int result = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(GUI.this, 
        createClass, "Create a class",JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION);

and NewClass()(extends JPanel) looks like this:

//initializes the values
className = new JTextField(10);
superName = new JTextField(10);
publicMem = new DefaultListModel<String>();
protectedMem = new DefaultListModel<String>();
privateMem = new DefaultListModel<String>();
publicMem.addElement("Test");
publicMem.addElement("Test");
pubMemList = new JList(publicMem);
protMemList = new JList(protectedMem);
privMemList = new JList(privateMem);
pubMemList.setLocation(0,0);
newMember = new ButtonController(memberCommand);

//add Components to the JPanel
add(new JLabel("Class Name:"));
add(className);
add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(15));
add(new JLabel("Super Class Name:"));
add(superName);
add(new JLabel("\n"));
add(new JLabel("Public Members :"));
add(pubMemList);
add(new JLabel("Protected Members :"));
add(protMemList);
add(new JLabel("Private Members :"));
add(privMemList);
add(newMember);

So if anyone could point me in the right direction or to another similar post that would be greatly appreciated.

Solution

  • "Ideally I would like the class names at the top, the 3 member lists in the middle and the button on the bottom"
    You could use a BorderLayout to achieve it. The following snippet may help you to get started:

        setLayout(new BorderLayout());

    //now add 3 panel as containers for top, center and bottom content
    JPanel top = new JPanel();
    add(top, BorderLayout.NORTH);
    JPanel center = new JPanel();
    add(center, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    JPanel bottom = new JPanel();
    add(bottom, BorderLayout.SOUTH);

    //manage layout and add content to top container
    top.setLayout(new FlowLayout());//actually it the default
    top.add(new JLabel("Class Name:"));
    JTextField className = new JTextField(10);
    top.add(className);
    top.add(new JLabel("Super Class Name:"));
    JTextField superName = new JTextField(10);
    top.add(superName);

    //todo manage layout and add content to center container
    //todo manage layout and add content to bottom container