javaswinglayoutgridbaglayout

Aligning panels with GridBagLayout


I'm not exactly new to java (I've been using it for a year now) but this is my first go at swing. I'm trying to make a very simple chat client to learn both socket and swing at once. My question is "What must I do to align my panels correctly?". I've tried a lot of things (Though I don't have it in my code). Usually I work something like this out on my own, but I'm to the point I need to ask for help. Do I need to change the wieghtx, weighty? What I want the client to look like is something like this.

enter image description here

This is what it currently looks like.

enter image description here

Here is my code.

package com.client.core;

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;


public class Window extends JFrame{

private int screenWidth = 800;
private int screenHeight = 600;

public Window(){

    //Initial Setup
    super("NAMEHERE - Chat Client Alpha v0.0.1");
    setResizable(true);
    setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    setSize(screenWidth,screenHeight);
    GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();

    //Main Panel
    JPanel window = new JPanel();
    window.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
    window.setBackground(Color.black);

    //Panels
    JPanel display = new JPanel();
    JPanel chat = new JPanel();
    chat.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
    JPanel users = new JPanel();


    display.setBackground(Color.blue);
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 0;
    c.insets= new Insets(5,5,5,5);
    window.add(display, c);

    chat.setBackground(Color.red);
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 3;
    c.gridheight = 2;
    c.gridwidth = 1;
    c.insets= new Insets(5,5,5,5);
    window.add(chat, c);

    users.setBackground(Color.green);
    c.gridx = 2;
    c.gridy = 0;
    c.insets= new Insets(5,5,5,5);
    window.add(users, c);

    //Buttons


    //Text fields
    JTextArea text = new JTextArea("DEREADFADSFEWFASDFSADFASDF");
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 0;
    chat.add(text);
    JTextField input = new JTextField("type here to chat", 50);
    c.gridx = 0;
    c.gridy = 1;
    c.insets= new Insets(5,5,5,5);
    chat.add(input);


    add(window);


}

static class ActLis implements ActionListener{

    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

    }

}
}

Solution

  • What you could do, and probably gives the desired result

    JPanel somethingHere = ...;
    JPanel chat = ...;
    JPanel userList = ...;
    
    JPanel leftPanel = new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
    leftPanel.add( somethingHere, BorderLayout.CENTER );
    leftPanel.add( chat, BorderLayout.SOUTH );
    
    JPanel total = new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
    total.add( leftPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER );
    total.add( userList, BorderLayout.EAST );
    

    Way simpler then messing with GridBagLayout