Thread: Calculator layout problem

Hey there pretty new to GUI java programming, my task is to create a calculator, im just having trouble with the actual layout of the calculator so far it is supposed to have a text box then below the buttons of the calculator and below this another text box, but all i can seem to do is create one grid which isn't adequate, this is my code, please help!

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
 
class BlackFrame extends JFrame
{
 
JTextField box1, box2;
JButton Zero, C, Exclemation, Equals, One, Two, Three, Multiply, Four, Five, Six, Minus, Seven, Eight, Nine, Plus;
// GUI components
// State of calculator
 
public BlackFrame ()
{
 
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Black (DC)");
frame.setSize(200, 250);
frame.setVisible(true);
 
 
JPanel a = new JPanel();
frame.add(a);
a.setVisible(true);
 
JPanel b = new JPanel();
frame.add(b);
b.setVisible(true);
 
JPanel c = new JPanel();
frame.add(c);
c.setVisible(true);
 
box1 = new JTextField (10);
a.add(box1);
 
 
c.setLayout(new GridLayout(4, 1));
 
 
Zero = new JButton("0");
c.add(Zero);
C = new JButton("C");
c.add(C);
Exclemation = new JButton("!");
c.add(Exclemation);
Equals = new JButton("=");
c.add(Equals);
One = new JButton("1");
c.add(One);
Two = new JButton("2");
c.add(Two);
Three = new JButton("3");
c.add(Three);
Multiply = new JButton("*");
c.add(Multiply);
Four = new JButton("4");
c.add(Four);
Five = new JButton("5");
c.add(Five);
Six = new JButton("6");
c.add(Six);
Minus = new JButton("-");
c.add(Minus);
Seven = new JButton("7");
c.add(Seven);
Eight = new JButton("8");
c.add(Eight);
Nine = new JButton("9");
c.add(Nine);
Plus = new JButton("+");
c.add(Plus);
 
 
box2 = new JTextField (10);
b.add(box2);
 
setDefaultCloseOperation (JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
 
}
}

Edit/Delete Message

Check out BorderLayout. Your first text box panel can go NORTH, your grid panel CENTER and you second text box panel SOUTH.

A couple of other things - your BlackFrame class extends JFrame but doesn't display itself, it creates another frame to display. Either do one or the other, not both - you'll end up very confused at some point (e.g. already you're setting the default close operation on the BlackFrame instead of the internal frame you're actually displaying!). Also, don't set the frame visible until all the components are in place. That way you don't need to make each panel visible separately, the frame will tell all its contents to be visible for you. Plus you should call frame.pack() before setting it visible - this tells it to lay out it's display components properly.