GridBagLayout

Java Swing Tutorial Explaining the GridBagLayout. GridBagLayout is a layout manager that lays out a container's components in a grid of cells with each component occupying one or more cells, called its display area.  The display area aligns components vertically and horizontally, without requiring that the components be of the same size.

 

 

 

GridBagLayout Source Code

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextField;

public class GridBagLayoutDemo {

    public static void addComponentsToPane(Container pane) {

        JButton jbnButton;
        pane.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
        GridBagConstraints gBC = new GridBagConstraints();
        gBC.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;


        jbnButton = new JButton("Button 1");
        gBC.weightx = 0.5;
        gBC.gridx = 0;
        gBC.gridy = 0;
        pane.add(jbnButton, gBC);
        
        JTextField jtf = new JTextField("TextField 1");
        gBC.gridx = 2;
        gBC.gridy = 0;
        jtf.setEditable(false);
        pane.add(jtf, gBC);

        jbnButton = new JButton("Button 3");
        gBC.gridx = 2;
        gBC.gridy = 0;
        pane.add(jbnButton, gBC);

        jbnButton = new JButton("Button 4");
        gBC.ipady = 40;     //This component has more breadth compared to other buttons
        gBC.weightx = 0.0;
        gBC.gridwidth = 3;
        gBC.gridx = 0;
        gBC.gridy = 1;
        pane.add(jbnButton, gBC);

        JComboBox jcmbSample = new JComboBox(new String[]{"ComboBox 1", "hi", "hello"});
        gBC.ipady = 0;      
        gBC.weighty = 1.0;   
        gBC.anchor = GridBagConstraints.PAGE_END; 
        gBC.insets = new Insets(10,0,0,0);  //Padding
        gBC.gridx = 1;       
        gBC.gridwidth = 2;  
        gBC.gridy = 2;     
        pane.add(jcmbSample, gBC);
    }

    private static void createAndShowGUI() {

        JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("GridBagLayout Source Demo");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

        //Set up the content pane.
        addComponentsToPane(frame.getContentPane());

        frame.pack();
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                createAndShowGUI();
            }
        });
    }
}

Output

After Expanding the Frame

Download GridBagLayout Source Code