Thread: Position TextBox Under Label In Panel

Hi - I am attempting to dump the GUI editor and code everything by hand - big task for me! I am setting up my JForm with 4 panels, 3 to hold my data and a 4th as a "parent" that will house everything before adding to the JForm.

Now my issue is, in the top most form, I have the positioning set to center for both the label and the text box and they appear on the same line. I want the text area to appear on the line BELOW the label and fill about half of that row.

How should this be altered so that takes place?

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
 
public class Data {
 
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        JFrame frMain;
        JPanel pnlName;
        JPanel pnlCharacterSelect;
        JPanel pnlButtonHolder;
        JLabel lblCharaterSelect;
        JTextField txtName;
        JButton btnStartGame;
        JLabel lblWelcome;
 
        frMain = new JFrame();
        pnlName = new JPanel();
        pnlCharacterSelect = new JPanel();
        pnlButtonHolder = new JPanel();
 
        pnlName.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
        pnlName.setMaximumSize(( new Dimension( 1000, 100)));
        pnlName.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
 
        lblWelcome = new JLabel("Input Player Name:", SwingConstants.CENTER);
        txtName = new JTextField(SwingConstants.CENTER);
 
        pnlCharacterSelect.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
        pnlCharacterSelect.setMaximumSize(( new Dimension( 1000, 600)));
        pnlCharacterSelect.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
 
        pnlButtonHolder.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
        pnlButtonHolder.setMaximumSize(( new Dimension( 1000, 50)));
        pnlButtonHolder.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
 
        pnlName.add(lblWelcome);
        pnlName.add(txtName);
 
        JPanel holder = new JPanel();
        holder.setLayout(new BoxLayout(holder, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
        holder.add(pnlName);
        holder.add(pnlCharacterSelect);
        holder.add(pnlButtonHolder);
 
        frMain.add(holder, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        frMain.setSize(400,400);
        frMain.setVisible(true);
 
    }
 
}

The posted code is missing the import statements, the class definition and the definitions for all the variables.
It is not possible to compile and test the code without them.

Ok, normally I don't do this so think of it as a tutorial. Explaining layouts and such can be complicated and takes practice (which is why you need to read the API and try out different things. Also, check out the tutorials in my signature below. It contains pretty good examples on layout managers etc. It is self contained and should compile and execute. Notice also that if you decrease the width of the inner panels, at some point they will no longer align properly. This is the nature of the flowout layout manager.

What you see below is a Frame, a main panel, and sub panels within the main panel. The first subpanel groups the label and text field together. This is a common technique. I also included a method to illustrate how you can create special panels using a method and specific arguments. The borders are shown to delineate the panels. Also, note that some layout managers ignore preferred sizes and other features. It depends on what layout you choose. Like I said you need to read the API, and the tutorials and experiment. But I think you may agree that the code below is easier to read than the "garbage" produced by the GUI designers.

Regards,
Jim

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
 
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.border.LineBorder;
 
public class GuiDemo {
 
   JFrame frame		= new JFrame();	// the containing frame.
   JPanel mainPanel	= new JPanel();	// the panel,where everything else goes.
 
   public static void main(String args[]) {
	  new GuiDemo().start(); // get out of static context
   }
 
   public void start() {
	  JLabel myLabel = new JLabel("Please enter your data below");
	  JPanel myField = new JPanel(); // a subpanel to group the label and text
	  JTextField myText = new JTextField(20); // 20 columns
 
	  myField.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 60));
	  myField.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
	  myField.add(myLabel);
	  myField.add(myText);
	  myField.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.RED, 3));
	  mainPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 400)); // arbitrary size for
	                                                       // demo only
 
	  mainPanel.add(myField);
	  mainPanel.add(createPanel(300, 100, true));
	  mainPanel.add(createPanel(300, 150, true));
 
	  frame.add(mainPanel);
	  frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); // check the API
	  frame.pack(); // invoke the layout components and resize if necessary
	  frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null); // center frame on screen
	  frame.setVisible(true);
   }
 
   public JPanel createPanel(int width, int height, boolean withBorder) {
	  JPanel panel = new JPanel();
	  panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
	  if (withBorder) {
		 panel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.BLUE, 3));
	  }
	  return panel;
   }
}

EDIT: Note that I use constants above (e.g. 300, 60, 150). It is best to provide these names because it helps document code and if you need to change a common value, you only need to do it in one place. Usually like

static int SUB_PANEL_WIDTH = 300;