Adding Component above all other components

Question

My initial problem is to put the panel (which is created as a result of a click on a button) above all components that have been added to the GBLTablePanel. I've written the following sample that demonstrates my problem
package test;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.WindowConstants;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;
public class GBLTablePanel extends JPanel {
    private final GridBagLayout layout;
    private final GridBagConstraints gbc;
    public GBLTablePanel() {
     layout = new GridBagLayout();
     gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
     setLayout(layout);
     JTable table = new JTable();
     table.setModel(new DefaultTableModel(new Object[][] {
          { "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 3, "a", null }, { "adasda", 10, "b", null },
          { "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 3, "a", null }, { "adasda", 10, "b", null },
          { "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 3, "a", null }, { "adasda", 10, "b", null },
          { "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 3, "a", null }, { "adasda", 10, "b", null },
          { "assssss", 55, "c", null }, { "asdafasfa", 44, "d", null } },
          new String[] { "Title 1", "Title 2", "Title 3", "Title 4" }));
     JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(table);
     gbc.gridx = 0;
     gbc.gridy = 0;
     gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
     gbc.weightx = 1.0;
     gbc.weighty = 1.0;
     layout.setConstraints(scrollPane, gbc);
     add(scrollPane);
     JButton showPanelBtn = new JButton(new AbstractAction("Show panel") {
         @Override
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
          /* When this button is clicked I want that panel to appear on the top (above all components of the GBLTablePanel ) */
          JPanel panel = new JPanel();
          panel.add(new JLabel("This must be on the top of JTable"));
          panel.setSize(panel.getSize().width, 30);
          panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(panel.getPreferredSize().width, 30));
          layout.setConstraints(panel, gbc);
          gbc.gridy = 0;
          GBLTablePanel.this.add(panel, 0);
     gbc.gridwidth = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
     gbc.gridy = 1;
     layout.setConstraints(scrollPane, gbc);
     add(showPanelBtn);
    public static void main(String[] args) {
     JFrame f = new JFrame("Test");
     f.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
     /* Construct table managed by GridBagLayout */
     GBLTablePanel panel = new GBLTablePanel();
     f.add(panel);
     f.pack();
     f.setVisible(true);
}I hope the example is not too confusing, honestly I'm not sure what do I try next to fix my problem. The panel simply does not show up :(

Answer 1

Here is an example that might help you with using GridBagLayout:
package table;
* TableInGridbaglayout.java
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class TableInGridbaglayout extends JFrame {
    private JButton btShowPanel;
    private JPanel panel;
    private JTable table;
    private boolean show;
    public TableInGridbaglayout() {
        super("TableInGridbaglayout");
        setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setSize(400, 300);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        panel = new JPanel();
        table = new JTable(4, 4);
        btShowPanel = new JButton("Show Panel");
        panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Panel on top of table"));
        panel.setVisible(false);
        getContentPane().setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
        GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints;
        //panel:
        gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        gridBagConstraints.gridheight = 3;
        gridBagConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
        gridBagConstraints.weightx = 1.0;
        gridBagConstraints.weighty = 0.3;
        getContentPane().add(panel, gridBagConstraints);
        //table:
        gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        gridBagConstraints.gridx = 0;
        gridBagConstraints.gridy = 3;
        gridBagConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
        gridBagConstraints.weightx = 1.0;
        gridBagConstraints.weighty = 1.0;
        getContentPane().add(new JScrollPane(table), gridBagConstraints);
        //button:
        gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        gridBagConstraints.gridx = 0;
        gridBagConstraints.gridy = 4;
        gridBagConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.SOUTH;
        gridBagConstraints.weightx = 1.0;
        gridBagConstraints.weighty = 0.1;
        getContentPane().add(btShowPanel, gridBagConstraints);
        btShowPanel.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
            public void actionPerformed(final ActionEvent evt) {
                show = !show;
                btShowPanel.setText(show ? "Hide Panel" : "Show Panel");
                panel.setVisible(show);
    public static void main(final String args[]) {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                new TableInGridbaglayout().setVisible(true);
}