Java Vertical Layout?

Question

I need to position a JLabel over some JButtons, vertically, like a game menu. They should all be centered. I already downloaded MigLayout, but I'm not sure how to use that, so I just want a way to position my components vertically and centered, MigLayout or not. Also, I don't want to use a IDE GUI designer.

Traffic

"I don't want to use a IDE GUI designer" +1 :) Such designers can increase productivity for a developer that already understands the layouts and how to combine them. Until you become proficient in core J2SE layouts (+ perhaps a 3rd party layout or 3) it is less than helpful to be trying to design a GUI while fighting the GUI designer. – Serafina

The problem is, I already wrote all my GUI stuff by hand (except for this), and I don't want to revise it will provide a big benefit. – Traffic

Answer 1

You might use a (single column) GridLayout or BoxLayout for this. See Using Layout Managers & A Visual Guide to Layout Managers for more tips, ideas and working source.

Serafina

@Jeffrey That was probably because I posted the reply before editing to add links. ;) – Serafina

BoxLayout works well for buttons, but not for JLabels...my JLabel is still aligned to the left. – Traffic

The problem is that the JLabel extends all the way across the frame(determined by drawing a border). – Traffic

Nevermind, I figured it out by setting the JLabel maximum size. Thanks for your answer. – Traffic

Answer 2

You should use BoxLayout. Here a basic example

import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;

public class VerticalPanel extends JPanel {

    public VerticalPanel() {
        super();
        setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));

        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            add(new JLabel("Label n°" + i));
        }
    }

}

Grisgris