GridBagLayout with buttons

Question

I am trying to draw a panel with buttons, that looks something like this:

I create the "buttonPanel" like this:

buttonPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.weightx = 0;
gbc.weighty = 0;

gbc.gridx = 0; gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridwidth = 1; gbc.gridheight = 2;
buttonPanel.add(new JButton("A0"), gbc);

gbc.gridx = 1; gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridwidth = 1; gbc.gridheight = 2;
buttonPanel.add(new JButton("A1"), gbc);

gbc.gridx = 2; gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridwidth = 2; gbc.gridheight = 2;
buttonPanel.add(new JButton("A2"), gbc);

gbc.gridx = 0; gbc.gridy = 2;
gbc.gridwidth = 3; gbc.gridheight = 2;
buttonPanel.add(new JButton("A3"), gbc);

gbc.gridx = 3; gbc.gridy = 2;
gbc.gridwidth = 1; gbc.gridheight = 2;
buttonPanel.add(new JButton("A4"), gbc);

But the result looks like this:

As button "A3" has a gridwidth=3, it should reach the middle of button "A2"?

Any help?

Edit1: Increasing the panel size, or setting a longer text on the buttons, does not change anything:

Edit2: Setting the weightx=1 for button "A2" and "A3" helps:

This is acceptable for me, although it would be nice if button "A4" would have the same width as button "A0" and "A1"

What happends if you increase the width of the outer panel (the jpanel that has gridbag as layout)? Of you use other texts than Ax - which require more space, especially A2? — brummfondel, Dec 23 '17 at 15:27
I made this a real answer so you can accept it. Setting A4 to have the same size as A0 and A1 is not that easy, maybe setting the maximum size of A4 might help. — brummfondel, Dec 23 '17 at 15:48

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 23 '17 at 15:47

2

Set for A2 and A3 the weightx to 1.0.

answered Dec 23 '17 at 15:47

brummfondel

1,202
1
8
11

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '17 at 16:06

1

although it would be nice if button "A4" would have the same width as button "A0" and "A1"

You can't have a cell take up a partial space of another cell.

So you need to "fake" it by creating 4 (invisible) dummy components. This allows you to define a grid of 4 columns.

Then A2 would have a gridwidth of "2" and A3 a gridwidth of "3". The others would have a gridwidth of 1. So now each row has a total cell widths of 4 to match the dummy cells.

Check out: Why does this GridBagLayout not appear as planned? for an example of this approach.

Or an easier option is to use the Relative Layout. It allows you to give components a relative size. So you would need two panels. In the first the components would have relative sizes of 1, 1, 2 and the second 3, 1.

answered Dec 23 '17 at 16:06

camickr

321,443
19
166
288

If an alternative to GridBag Layout is possible, MigLayout is a very good solution for this: http://www.miglayout.com/ – brummfondel Dec 23 '17 at 16:25
@brummfondel, this has nothing to do with my answer. Post it in your answer or as comment to the question. – camickr Dec 23 '17 at 16:27
You mentioned Relative Layout as option and I MigLayout as comment to your comment. – brummfondel Dec 25 '17 at 10:55
@brummfondel, Please remove your comments. It has nothing to do with my answer. I did not ask for suggestions of how to solve the problem. The OP asked for suggestions. So if you think it is a good suggestion, then make the suggestion in your answer not mine because I don't like MigLayout and would therefore not recommend it. – camickr Dec 25 '17 at 15:24

GridBagLayout with buttons

2 Answers2