GUI JPanel & frame layout

Question

I want to ask some question about Java GUI, especially on JPanel syntax. I'm really confused how to configure the panel exactly, try to use BorderLayout , and GridLayout , but it still doesn't meet my requirement.

I want to make form like below:

Current Result:

From the image, I need to configure that 2 points

1. The padding / margin between Input Panel and the Button Panel
   
2. The Padding / margin between tablePanel and the inputPanel

Code

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.util.Vector;

import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.border.BevelBorder;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.border.LineBorder;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;


public class manageForm extends JFrame {
    //Vector<String> header=new Vector<String>();
    //Vector<Vector<String>>data=new Vector<Vector<String>>();

    DefaultTableModel defaultTableModel;
    JTable table;
    JScrollPane scrollPane;

    JLabel titleLabel=new JLabel("Manage Handphone");

    JTable hpTable = new JTable();

    JLabel idLabel = new JLabel("ID");
    JLabel nameLabel = new JLabel("Name");
    JLabel priceLabel = new JLabel("Price");
    JLabel weightLabel = new JLabel("Weight");
    JLabel cableLabel = new JLabel("Cable Length");
    JLabel typeLabel = new JLabel("Type");

    JTextField idtxt = new JTextField();
    JTextField nametxt = new JTextField();
    JTextField pricetxt = new JTextField();
    JTextField weighttxt = new JTextField();
    JTextField cabletxt = new JTextField();

    JComboBox typeBox = new JComboBox();

    JButton insertBtn = new JButton("INSERT");
    JButton updateBtn = new JButton("UPDATE");
    JButton deleteBtn = new JButton("DELETE");
    JButton confirmBtn = new JButton("CONFIRM");
    JButton cancelBtn = new JButton("CANCEL");

    String header[] = {"ID","Name","Type","Price","Weight","Cable Length"};
    String data[][] = {
            {"2","Bose Quite","In-Ear","Price","Weight","Cable Length"},
            {"2","Bose Quite","In-Ear","Price","Weight","Cable Length"},
            {"2","Bose Quite","In-Ear","Price","Weight","Cable Length"}

    };


    public manageForm() {

        JPanel headerPanel = new JPanel();
        JPanel tablePanel = new JPanel();
        tablePanel.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(0,0,0,0));
        JPanel inputPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(6,2));
        inputPanel.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(20,10,20,10));
        //inputPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.black));
        JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(1,5));
        buttonPanel.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(100,20,100,20));
        JPanel footerPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout (2,1,0,0));


        headerPanel.add(titleLabel);

        inputPanel.add(idLabel);
        inputPanel.add(idtxt);
        inputPanel.add(nameLabel);
        inputPanel.add(nametxt);
        inputPanel.add(priceLabel);
        inputPanel.add(pricetxt);
        inputPanel.add(weightLabel);
        inputPanel.add(weighttxt);
        inputPanel.add(cableLabel);
        inputPanel.add(cabletxt);
        inputPanel.add(typeLabel);
        inputPanel.add(typeBox);

        buttonPanel.add(confirmBtn);
        buttonPanel.add(cancelBtn);
        buttonPanel.add(insertBtn);
        buttonPanel.add(updateBtn);
        buttonPanel.add(deleteBtn);


        footerPanel.add(inputPanel);
        footerPanel.add(buttonPanel);

/*
        JPanel panel0=new JPanel();
        JPanel panel1=new JPanel();
        JPanel panel2=new JPanel();
        JPanel panel3=new JPanel();
        JPanel panel4=new JPanel();
        JPanel panel5=new JPanel();
        JPanel panel6 = new JPanel();
        JPanel panel7 = new JPanel();
        JPanel panel8 = new JPanel();



        panel1.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 6));



        panel2.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        panel2.add(idLabel);
        panel2.add(idtxt);

        panel3.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        panel3.add(nameLabel);
        panel3.add(nametxt);

        panel4.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        panel4.add(priceLabel);
        panel4.add(pricetxt);

        panel5.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        panel5.add(weightLabel);
        panel5.add(weighttxt);

        panel6.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        panel6.add(cableLabel);
        panel6.add(cabletxt);

        panel7.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        panel7.add(typeLabel);
        panel7.add(typeBox);

        panel8.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 5));


        mainPanel.add(panel0);
        mainPanel.add(panel1);
        mainPanel.add(panel2);
        mainPanel.add(panel3);
        mainPanel.add(panel4);
        mainPanel.add(panel5);
        mainPanel.add(panel6);
        mainPanel.add(panel7);
        mainPanel.add(panel8);
    */  

        /*
        header.add("ID");
        header.add("Name");
        header.add("Type");
        header.add("Price");
        header.add("Weight");
        header.add("Cable Length");
        */

        defaultTableModel=new DefaultTableModel(data, header);
        hpTable =new JTable(defaultTableModel);
        scrollPane=new JScrollPane(hpTable);
//      tablePanel.add(scrollPane);


        setLayout(new BorderLayout(0,5));
        setTitle("Manage Form");
        setSize(800,600);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        setVisible(true);
        add(headerPanel,BorderLayout.NORTH);
        add(scrollPane,BorderLayout.CENTER);
        add(footerPanel,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
        pack();
    }


    public static void main(String[] args) {
    new manageForm();   
    }

}

How exactly to manage the panel layout to meet our requirement?

I have tried EmptyBorder , but the result, it's only making a big space between the other panel.

Answer 1

Use GridBagLayout it is a powerful and best fit to your requirement. It is arranges the components in a horizontal and vertical manner.

You can put component in a grid using cells and rows. As a example:

read more - GridBagLayout

Answer 2

Strongly disagree with the suggestion to use GridBagLayout. That layout is basically a punchline for any Swing programmer.

If you're going to be programming Swing, do yourself a huge favor and use MiGLayout . It's the layout manager that Swing should have built-in.