The GridBag customizer enables you to visually adjust the placement and constraints of components in a GridBagLayout.
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It is helpful to sketch out the way you want your layout to look before you use the GridBag customizer. |
To use the GridBag customizer:
The Customizer dialog box opens with a property sheet for GridBag constraints, buttons for adjusting the constraints in its left pane, and a rough depiction of the layout of the components in its right pane.
Note, however, that the right pane serves only as a rough layout guide and does not reflect the absolute positions of the components. The position of each component is largely governed by other constraints set in the left pane. The Form Editor window more closely reflects how the components will look at runtime.
Grid X and Grid Y. Fine-tune the component's horizontal and vertical position if necessary by setting its X and Y grid positions.
Grid Width and Grid Height, Grid Size Buttons. Set Grid Width and Grid Height to specify how many grid positions are allocated for the component in each direction. This is the number of cells the component uses, not the number of pixels. Use an integer value, Remainder (to make the component the last one in its row or column, using all remaining horizontal or vertical space), or Relative (to specify that the component be the next to last one in its row or column).
You can also adjust these settings with the Grid Size buttons. Clicking the rightmost button with yellow shading sets the value to Remainder.
Weight X and Weight Y. Adjust the weight settings to determine how much space a component should be given relative to other components in its row or column when the container window is resized. Generally, weight values range from zero to one. Components with larger weight values get more space allocated in their row or column when the window is resized.
Components with a weight value of zero always retain their preferred size for that dimension. If all the components in a row or column have a weight of zero, any extra space goes to the outer edges of the row or column and the components stay the same size.
Insets. The Insets determine the minimum amount of external space on each of the four sides of the component. You can enter numbers manually or use the inset buttons. The buttons are divided into four sets that enable you to adjust the insets for each side separately, the left and right insets simultaneously, the top and bottom insets simultaneously, or all four insets simultaneously.
As you change the insets, you will see the inset area marked by a yellow background in the right pane.
Internal Padding X and Y, I-Padding Buttons. The internal padding settings enable you to increase the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the component. You can adjust these by directly entering numbers for the properties or by using the internal padding buttons.
Fill. The Fill constraint enables you to choose whether the component uses all of the vertical or horizontal space (or both) that is allocated to it. Any space allocated to a component that the component does not fill is marked with blue in the right pane.
Anchor. The Anchor constraint enables you to place the component in one of nine positions within the space allocated to it (Center, North, North-West, and so on). This setting has no effect if there is no free space remaining for the component.
See also | |
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GridBagLayout
Setting the Layout Manager Adding a New Component Component Inspector Property Sheet Toolbar |