Sudoku GUI

Question

Hey am trying to create a GUI for my Sudoku board.
Here is how it currently looks: (See code below)
There are two things I wanna change
1. How do I center align the number so they are not stuck to the right edge as they are now?
2. How do I add a bolder line around blocks/boxes(e.g. the 3*3 sections). Im sure these are pretty easy but havent been able to figure it out as of yet!
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Code:
package proj.sudoku.gui;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Cursor;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.Insets;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.InputMethodEvent;
import java.awt.event.InputMethodListener;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeEvent;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingConstants;
import javax.swing.table.AbstractTableModel;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableCellRenderer;
import proj.sudoku.representation.Board;
import proj.sudoku.representation.Square;
import proj.sudoku.ui.Sudoku;
public class SudokuGUI extends JFrame implements ActionListener{
private JTextField unfilledSquaresTextField;
private JTextArea messagesTextArea;
private JTable boardTable;
private Board board;
private Sudoku sudoku = new Sudoku();
private int noOfUnfilledSquares = 20;
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
class BoardTableTableModel extends AbstractTableModel {
public final String[] COLUMN_NAMES = { "Row 0", "Row 1", "Row 2", "Row 3", "Row 4", "Row 5", "Row 6", "Row 7", "Row 8"};
public int getRowCount() {
return 9;
public int getColumnCount() {
return COLUMN_NAMES.length;
public String getColumnName(int columnIndex) {
return COLUMN_NAMES[columnIndex];
public Object getValueAt(int rowIndex, int columnIndex) {
int squareValue = board.getSquare(rowIndex, columnIndex).getSquareValue();
if(squareValue == 0){
return null;
}else{
return new Integer(squareValue);
public boolean isCellEditable(int row, int col){
return true;
public void setValueAt(Object value, int row, int col) {
int intValue = ((Integer)value).intValue();
if((intValue >= 0) && (intValue < 10)){
Square square = board.getSquare(row, col);
square.setSquareValue(((Integer)value).intValue());
board.setSquare(square, row, col);
fireTableCellUpdated(row, col);
public Class getColumnClass(int c) {
return Integer.class;
* Create the frame
public SudokuGUI(Board newBoard) {
super();
getContentPane().setBackground(new Color(128, 128, 255));
board = newBoard;
getContentPane().setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
setTitle("Sudoku Sudokme");
setBounds(100, 100, 607, 456);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
final JPanel tablePanel = new JPanel();
tablePanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints.weighty = 0.5;
gridBagConstraints.weightx = 1;
getContentPane().add(tablePanel, gridBagConstraints);
boardTable = new JTable();
boardTable.setRowHeight(40); // TODO This line has been changed
boardTable.setFont(new Font("", Font.PLAIN, 20));// TODO This line has been changed
boardTable.setCursor(Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.TEXT_CURSOR));
boardTable.setRowSelectionAllowed(false);
boardTable.setShowGrid(true);
boardTable.setModel(new BoardTableTableModel());
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_2 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_2.gridx = 0;
gridBagConstraints_2.gridy = 0;
gridBagConstraints_2.insets = new Insets(0, -265, 0, 0);// TODO This line has been changed
//gridBagConstraints_2.insets = new Insets(5, -265, 5, 0);
tablePanel.add(boardTable, gridBagConstraints_2);
final JPanel messagesPanel = new JPanel();
messagesPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_6 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_6.weighty = 0.3;
gridBagConstraints_6.weightx = 1.0;
gridBagConstraints_6.gridy = 1;
gridBagConstraints_6.gridx = 0;
getContentPane().add(messagesPanel, gridBagConstraints_6);
messagesTextArea = new JTextArea();
messagesTextArea.setAlignmentY(Component.BOTTOM_ALIGNMENT);
messagesPanel.add(messagesTextArea, new GridBagConstraints());
messagesTextArea.setText(board.getMessage());
messagesTextArea.setEditable(false);
final JPanel generateButtonPanel = new JPanel();
generateButtonPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_3 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_3.gridy = 2;
gridBagConstraints_3.gridx = 0;
getContentPane().add(generateButtonPanel, gridBagConstraints_3);
final JButton generateEmptyBoardButton = new JButton();
generateEmptyBoardButton.addActionListener(this);
generateEmptyBoardButton.setText("Generate Empty Board");
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_9 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_9.gridy = 0;
gridBagConstraints_9.gridx = 0;
generateButtonPanel.add(generateEmptyBoardButton, gridBagConstraints_9);
final JButton generateBoardButton = new JButton();
generateBoardButton.addActionListener(this);
generateBoardButton.setText("Generate Board");
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_10 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_10.gridx = 2;
generateButtonPanel.add(generateBoardButton, gridBagConstraints_10);
final JLabel unfilledSquaresLabel = new JLabel();
unfilledSquaresLabel.setText("Unfilled Squares");
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_11 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_11.gridy = 0;
gridBagConstraints_11.gridx = 3;
generateButtonPanel.add(unfilledSquaresLabel, gridBagConstraints_11);
unfilledSquaresTextField = new JTextField();
unfilledSquaresTextField.setFont(new Font("", Font.BOLD, 14));
unfilledSquaresTextField.addActionListener(this);
unfilledSquaresTextField.setText(new Integer(noOfUnfilledSquares).toString());
unfilledSquaresTextField.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_12 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_12.gridy = 0;
gridBagConstraints_12.gridx = 4;
unfilledSquaresLabel.setLabelFor(unfilledSquaresTextField);
generateButtonPanel.add(unfilledSquaresTextField, gridBagConstraints_12);
final JPanel solveButtonsPanel = new JPanel();
solveButtonsPanel.setRequestFocusEnabled(false);
solveButtonsPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_1 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_1.weighty = 0.1;
gridBagConstraints_1.weightx = 1;
gridBagConstraints_1.gridy = 3;
gridBagConstraints_1.gridx = 0;
getContentPane().add(solveButtonsPanel, gridBagConstraints_1);
final JButton heuristicsSolveButton = new JButton();
heuristicsSolveButton.addActionListener(this);
heuristicsSolveButton.setText("Heuristics Solve");
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_4 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_4.gridx = 0;
solveButtonsPanel.add(heuristicsSolveButton, gridBagConstraints_4);
final JButton bruteForceSolveButton = new JButton();
bruteForceSolveButton.addActionListener(this);
bruteForceSolveButton.setText("Brute Force Solve");
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_7 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_7.gridx = 1;
solveButtonsPanel.add(bruteForceSolveButton, gridBagConstraints_7);
final JButton hybridSolveButton = new JButton();
hybridSolveButton.addActionListener(this);
hybridSolveButton.setText("Hybrid Solve");
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_8 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_8.gridx = 2;
solveButtonsPanel.add(hybridSolveButton, gridBagConstraints_8);
final JPanel testButtonsPanel = new JPanel();
testButtonsPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints_5 = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints_5.weighty = 0.1;
gridBagConstraints_5.weightx = 1.0;
gridBagConstraints_5.gridy = 4;
gridBagConstraints_5.gridx = 0;
getContentPane().add(testButtonsPanel, gridBagConstraints_5);
final JButton checkIfValidButton = new JButton();
checkIfValidButton.addActionListener(this);
checkIfValidButton.setText("Check If Valid");
testButtonsPanel.add(checkIfValidButton, new GridBagConstraints());
final JButton checkIfLegalButton = new JButton();
checkIfLegalButton.addActionListener(this);
checkIfLegalButton.setText("Check If Legal");
testButtonsPanel.add(checkIfLegalButton, new GridBagConstraints());
public static void main(String args[]) {
try {
SudokuGUI frame = new SudokuGUI(new Board());
frame.setVisible(true);
//frame.pack();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
if(arg0.getSource().getClass().getName().equals("javax.swing.JTextField")){
noOfUnfilledSquares = new Integer(((JTextField)arg0.getSource()).getText()).intValue();
this.repaint();
}else{
try{
board = sudoku.processGUICommands(board, arg0.getActionCommand(), noOfUnfilledSquares);
messagesTextArea.setText(board.getMessage());
this.repaint();
}catch(Exception e){
e.printStackTrace();
}

Answer 1

1) Use the [url http://forum.java.sun.com/help.jspa?sec=formatting]Code Formatting Tags when posting code so the code is readable
2) The code you posted isn't compileable or executable so we see exactly what you layout looks like
3) If you have a Grid type layout, then I would think a GridLayout would be more appropriate to use then the GridBagLayout. Read the Swing tutorial on [url http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/layout/visual.html]How to Use Layout Managers for more information.
How do I add a bolder line around blocks/boxes[url http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/misc/border.htmlHow to Use Borders[/url]
If you need further help then you need to create a [url http://homepage1.nifty.com/algafield/sscce.html]Short, Self Contained, Compilable and Executable, Example Program that demonstrates the incorrect behaviour, because I can't guess exactly what you are doing based on the information provided.