Thread: GridBagLayout help

How do I layout a frame window so that I have a text field as the first object, two buttons centered underneath text field next, and three labels one right next to each other starting in the bottom left corner underneath the buttons?

This is what I have so far:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
 
public class TextEditButtons extends Frame implements ActionListener
{
     int wrdCnt = 0;
     long inSize;
     long outSize;
     char inAry[];
     char outAry[];
     String inStr = new String();
     String outStr = new String();
     String shrtstWrd;
     String lngstWrd;
     StringTokenizer st1;
     StringTokenizer st2;
     StringTokenizer st3;
     TextArea txt;
     Button save;
     Button quit;
     Label wrdCntLab;
     Label shrtstWrdLab;
     Label lngstWrdLab;
     File inTxt;
     File outTxt;
     InputStream inTxtStrm;
     OutputStream outTxtStrm;
     GridBagLayout gbl;
     GridBagConstraints gbc;
 
     public TextEditButtons()
     {
          super("Text Edit - Button version");    
          txt = new TextArea(20, 50);
          save = new Button("Save");
          quit = new Button("Quit");
          wrdCntLab = new Label();
          shrtstWrdLab = new Label();
          lngstWrdLab = new Label();
 
          gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
          setLayout(gbl = new GridBagLayout());
 
 
          /*add(save);
          add(quit);
          add(wrdCntLab);
          add(shrtstWrdLab);
          add(lngstWrdLab);*/
 
          gbc.weightx = 0;
          gbc.ipadx = 0;
          gbc.anchor = gbc.FIRST_LINE_START;
 
          gbl.setConstraints(txt, gbc);
 
          add(txt);
 
          gbc.weightx = 0;
          gbc.ipadx = 0;
          gbc.anchor = gbc.LINE_START;
 
          gbl.setConstraints(save, gbc);
          gbl.setConstraints(quit, gbc);
 
          add(save);
          add(quit);
 
          try
          {
               inTxt = new File("TextEdit.java");
               inTxtStrm = new FileInputStream(inTxt);
               inSize = inTxt.length();
          }
          catch (FileNotFoundException fnfe1)
          {
               txt.setText("Input file not found");
          }
 
          try
          {
               outTxtStrm = new FileOutputStream("outputtext.txt");
          }
          catch (FileNotFoundException fnfe2)
          {
               txt.setText("Output file not found");
          }
 
          try
          {
               inAry = new char [(int) inSize];
 
               for (int inAryInd = 0; inAryInd < inSize; inAryInd++)
               {
                   inAry[inAryInd] = (char) inTxtStrm.read();
               }
          }
          catch (IOException ioe)
          {
               txt.setText("I/O error");
          }
 
          for (int inAryInd = 0; inAryInd < inSize; inAryInd++)
          {
               inStr += inAry[inAryInd];
          }
          txt.setText(inStr);
 
          addWindowListener(new GenericWindowClosing());          
 
          save.addActionListener(this);
          quit.addActionListener(this);
 
          st1 = new StringTokenizer (inStr, ",;:.?! \t\n()[]{}+-*/\\\"");
          st2 = new StringTokenizer (inStr, ",;:.?! \t\n()[]{}+-*/\\\"");
          st3 = new StringTokenizer (inStr, ",;:.?! \t\n()[]{}+-*/\\\"");
     }
 
 
     private int wordCount (StringTokenizer st1)
     {
          while (st1.hasMoreTokens())
          {
                wrdCnt++;
                st1.nextToken();
          }
 
          return wrdCnt;
     }
 
     private String shortestWord (StringTokenizer st2)
     {
          shrtstWrd = st2.nextToken();
 
          while (st2.hasMoreTokens())
          {
                String nxtWrd = st2.nextToken();
                if(nxtWrd.length() < shrtstWrd.length())
                {
                     shrtstWrd = nxtWrd;
                     st3.nextToken();
                }
          }
 
          return shrtstWrd;
     }
 
     private String longestWord (StringTokenizer st3)
     {
          lngstWrd = st3.nextToken();
 
          while (st3.hasMoreTokens())
          {
                String nxtWrd = st3.nextToken();
                if(nxtWrd.length() > lngstWrd.length())
                {
                     lngstWrd = nxtWrd;
                     st3.nextToken();
                }
          }
 
          return lngstWrd;
     }
 
     public static void main (String args[])
     {
          int wc;
          String sw;
          String lw;
 
          TextEditButtons teb = new TextEditButtons();
 
          teb.setSize(new Dimension(400,500));
          teb.setVisible(true);
 
          wc = teb.wordCount(teb.st1);
          sw = teb.shortestWord(teb.st2);
          lw = teb.longestWord(teb.st3);
          teb.wrdCntLab.setText("Word Count: " + wc);
          teb.shrtstWrdLab.setText("Shortest word: " + sw);
          teb.lngstWrdLab.setText("Longest word: " + lw);
     }
 
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
     {
           String actionStr = ae.getActionCommand();
 
           if (actionStr.equals("Save"))
           {
                outStr = txt.getText();
                outAry = outStr.toCharArray();
 
                for (int outAryInd = 0; outAryInd < outStr.length(); outAryInd++)
                {
                     try
                     {
                          outTxtStrm.write(outAry[outAryInd]);
                     }
                     catch (Exception e)
                     {
 
                     }
                }
           }
           if (actionStr.equals("Quit"))
           {
                System.exit(0);
           }
     }
}

The buttons end up beside the text field and the labels are out of the frame window.

Originally Posted by mjpam

How do I layout a frame window so that I have a text field as the first object, two buttons centered underneath text field next, and three labels one right next to each other starting in the bottom left corner underneath the buttons?

This is what I have so far:

<snip largely irrelevant code/>

The buttons end up beside the text field and the labels are out of the frame window.

That's because you haven't set a gridx/gridy/colspan. Recommended reading: the GridBagLayout API and How to Use GridBagLayout (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing > Laying Out Components Within a Container)

By the way, the usual programming idiom when adding components to a container that has a GridBagLayout is to add the component using the overload of add(...) that takes two parameters.

container.add(component, gbl);

Not by first setting the constraints and then adding the component, as in your code.

When posting code on a forum, you should post only code relevant to the problem. In this case, the construction of the GUI, sans any program logic which is just clutter when seeking help with a layout problem.

db