Swing layout books ?

Hi,
We are a small group of developers and have written quite a lot of Java apps and GUIs, but seems to struggle sometimes getting good layouts on forms etc that we are designing. We obviously know about the different layout managers but i'm not sure we're using them fully or really know them inside out. What we're looking for is more information about how to get the best layouts, tips and tricks, or a complete treatise on the layout managers.
Can anyone recommend a good book on using Swing layout managers, and/or general GUI design principles ? The Sun tutorial is a pretty good start, but is there anything else ?
Many thanks
Alistair

hi,
Professional Java Programming in this link,(but not free download)
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Java-Programming-Brett-Spell/dp/186100382X

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Unable to run jar file without lib folder containing swing-layout-1.0.jar

I have done my project through NetBeans 5.0. Eventhough I have copied my lib foloder containing swing-layout-1.0.jar inside my project.jar, I am still unable to run my project.jar in other systems, it is creating an error as Could not find the main class. Program will exit. But if I copy the lib foloder containing swing-layout-1.0.jar in the same path as the project.jar, then my project.jar is running.
But I want to give only the project.jar for other users and not also lib foloder containing swing-layout-1.0.jar each time.
Could someone please help me with this.

When you develop GUI applications using the Netbeans you may endup using netbeans specific jar files in your auto generated code.
And when you build jar files with netbeans it copy the third party jar files used in a application in to a lib folder in the same directory as the jar file of your project. And then set a class path entry to those jar files in your project jar file's manifest file.
So if you want to redistribute the package you have to redistribute your jar file and every thing in the lib folder in with the same directory structure.
If you want to change the structure you will have to change the class path to suit the new structure.

Swing Layouts

Why is laying out component sizes in Swing so incredibly opaque?
Each time I build a swing interface it seems to be a series of visual compromises, and ending up in more TLOC than any other part of even a complex application. Changing one value seems to always mess up everything else or have unexpected side-effects! Half the time, changing the most obvious values have no effect at all. I frequently end up just clearing out ALL layout hints/settings from the UI and starting from scratch with a GridBagLayout just to get something fairly sensible. Yes I am frustrated.
If any part of the increasingly wonderful java platform needs a major review, then it is the Swing layout APIs or at least the documentation of the exact behaviour and dependencies of methods that influence sizes.
Either I am stupid (which I would be most willing to accept), or component layout/orientation/sizing/behaviour is very, very far from intuitive.
I'd love to become a Swing-super-guru-expert, but as I am expected to be an expert on so many other things, I simply do not have the time to spend on it. I believe that it would be much better for the platform as a whole if the UI platform was made more intuitive or at the very least much better documented.
I am seriously considering moving to SWT, as I just don't have the time or energy to figure all this out.
/k1

Oh btw - all the GUI editors I've ever used tend to compound the problems by introducing their own
quirks, dependencies and restrictions! That's been my experience to date which is why I've steered clear of them.
As far as swing architecture not being mature. I think the architecture gives you the building blocks, from there any layout mangers can be created. Maybe Sun could provide a few more LayoutManagers but I suspect their tactic is to provide the minimum from which you can do everything so keeping the API size down.
So don't restrict yourself to those available in the JDK. Have a google and get some freebies. There are all sorts of alternative Layouts there. The fact that these are freely available elsewhere is quite likely why SUn haven't bothered to introduce more themselves some that spring to mind are TableLayout, GridLayout, ProportionalLayout, LabelledLayout
To my mind it's the beauty of swing that allows it to be so easily extended in this way.
SpringLayout came in in JDK1.4 http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2002/09/11/layout.html but I'm not familiar with that as yet as I write systems that must be JDK1.3 compatible. It looks like a better replacement for GridBagLayout there are probably alternative versions of this to be found on the web..

Help with Fixed layout book.

Recently uploaded a fixed layout book to apple. It was rejected, and as usual we received a onliner from Apple - (blurry, pixelated, split across page breaks, etc.) The book is 150dpi and meets all Apple's guidlines. Any suggestions on what else we can try? The book has art running across 2 pages. Is this not allowed?

Okay, after taking a look at the book on my iPad, and digging into the epub file on my Mac, I have a couple of ideas as to why it wasn't approved (and, yes, I'd agree, the one-liner from Apple could have been more specific).
First, on my iPad, the book is not actually opening as a fixed layout book. It's opening as a regular book with your images flowing as text. With the images flowing as they are, many are browen across page boundaries (as you'd see in, say, MS Word, when an image is pasted across a page break), and this is probably why Apple mentions pages being split. In digging into the epub file I didn't see a com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml file, which is where you specify various features for the book, including fixed-layout. You need this file in the META-INF folder.
The second issue is actually much larger, and likely the reson Apple responded as they did. Each page in your book is stored as one big jpeg containing both graphics and text (sort of like a PDF), and each xhtml page merely inserts that image in the flow of your book. Apple requires that images not contain text, as this makes it impossible for readers to search the contents or use other features of iBooks such as the dictionary and copy'n'paste. Text embedded in an image does not scale when zoomed in the same way that standalone text is able to scale and be re-rendered as a true font.
I think you'll need to readdress how your pages have been laid out. Separate the text from the graphics and treat them as independent objects in your HTML and CSS. You might be able to get away with removing all the text from each of your jpeg images and still having "full bleed images" that are simply missing all the text, then layering in the text via HTML.
Hope that helps!

Swing layout error

i have posted this in the jdbc forum but i have not recieved any responsed yet so im posting it here in the hope that one of you might
have a solution.
I searched this forum, and i was surprised to find that none had this problem. I ll get to the point.
I am using netbeans, so i downloaded the mysql driver , added it to the project library and compiled and ran my program . I did not have any problems.
so i triedt to run the app on a different machine and it gave me the
popular swing layout error. I fixed that error. by adding some lines to the xml file mentioned in the netbeans faq.
Now it gives me another popular error when i try to run the .jar file from command line on the same machine i developed the app
the errror is
System Exception Output : com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
is there a way to avoid this error like the swing layout error
thanks in advance

So, nothing whatsoever to do with a Swing layout error, then :o)

Please suggest some swing/bean book(Beginer free downloadable)

Please suggest some dedicated swing/bean book(free downloadable)
as I am at beginer level.
It would be nice if it covers all major topics and suits quick
understanding.

Good starting place...
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/
and here...
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/GUI/Swing1/shortcourse.html
then here...
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/GUI/Swing2/shortcourse.html

Fixed-layout books must supply a landmarks

How to resolve this error.
I am uploading fixed layout epub3 file to itunes connect.
Fixed-layout books must supply a landmarks

Maybe I did not explain correctly. let me try again.
The error is 5107 Landmarks, the link with info I found mentions the same error but instead of landmarks it says guide.
I did find a sample for using the Landmarks code
<nav epub:type="landmarks"> <h2>Guide</h2> <ol> <li><a epub:type="toc" href="#toc">Table of Contents</a></li> <li><a epub:type="loi" href="content.html#loi">List of Illustrations</a></li> <li><a epub:type="bodymatter" href="content.html#bodymatter">Start of Content</a></li> </ol> </nav>
what is confusing me is this book is a fixed layout picture book with no TOC, no tables. Do I leave my guide as is?
<guide>
    <reference type="cover" title="Cover" href="html/cover.html" />
    <reference type="text" title="Page1" href="html/page1.html" />
</guide>
and add the landmark code in the content.opf
sample code - landmark
<nav epub: type="landmarks"> <h2>Guide</h2> <ol> <li><a epub type=toc href=toc"> Table of Contents</a></li>
<a epub:type="loi" href="content.html#loi">
List of Illustrations</a></li> <li><a epub:type="bodymatter" href="content.html#bodymatter">Start of Content</a></li> </ol> </nav>
add it this way?
<nav epub: type="landmarks">
<h2>
<reference type="cover" title="Cover" href="html/cover.html" />
    <reference type="text" title="Page1" href="html/page1.html" />
</h2>
what do I do here?
<a epub:type="loi" href="content.html#loi">
List of Illustrations</a></li> <li><a epub:type="bodymatter" href="content.html#bodymatter">Start of Content</a></li> </ol> </nav>
Any help?
R

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How do you add read aloud to a fixed layout book?

I have seen some ibooks (childrens books) with read aloud abilities. I know you have to do some programming but what program do you use to edit the code, can you preview it in ibooks (on ipad) if you modify the code, and is there a non-programming way to add audio/speech to your ibooks through ibooks author? Does anyone know the process or what steps and programs needed to add the read aloud feature to an ibook? (I know there are many others out their who would like to know the answers to these questions). Thanks.
Also, I have HD images (2000x1462) for my ibook in ibooks author and when I preview it on an ipad 2, it downsizes it to regular quality (like 1400x1200 ish). Since I don't yet own an iPad 3, do the images stay HD quality when an ibook (from ibooks author) is viewed on an iPad 3?

Okay, I just finished building my Ibook in Ibooks Author. I tested one of the free ibooks (Peter Rabit) and liked how it reads to you. I have read many articles and other posts here on Apple.com and everyone seems to want to add this read aloud feature. I have the Fixed Layout EPUBs Miniguide and iBookstore Asse Guide 4_8 and even though the miniguide explains things step by step, its like reading Greek. I am new to programming. Since I assume you are an expert, what I need is help getting started. I'm pretty good at figuring things out, I just need to get a jumpstart as fast as possible. (I don't want to spend a whole month trying to add this read aloud feature).
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Dealing with Swing Layouts

I have a collection of small panels with fixed size (around 50x50), and a main panel with size around 600x480.
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I have tried setting up a GridLayout on my main panel, but my small panels always got resized to fill my main panel, no matter how I tried to stablish the number of rows (length % rows == 0? 0 : 1 + len depending on my collection size.
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Is this the correct behaviour? Am I doing something wrong? (I'm sure I do :))
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
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import java.util.List;
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Thanks Camickr.
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In my previous iteration I tried it but this content panel would always take my maximum space, thus expanding my small panels... :(

Swing Layout for different screen resolution

Hi All,
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I intend to make it working on all screen sizes (resoultions) and on different OS and devices.
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I am using NetBeans 6.8 (which uses a GroupLayout) for designing the GUI but when I change the screen resolution, the arrangement is all messed up.
Also, I am not able to design my application's GUI using NetBeans GUI builder as there is noway I can get an idea of how things will look like in the EXTENDED_BOTH state.
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The entire point of Swing LayoutManagers is to get a (reasonably) consistent layout across different resolutions, window sizes, platforms, etc. Of course, different window sizes and aspect ratios will affect things slightly, but any LayoutManager properly used will do the job you're describing.
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Swing layout

in AWT, the layout was control by the GridBag Layout and constraints, how can i control the layout of the button in swing to the layout that i want it to be?

hi,
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Aperture doesn't save book layout, book disappears

I start to create a book in Aperture. Then I quit Aperture. When I relaunch Aperture, the book no longer appears in the project. However, if I explore the database using "show package contents," I can see a file with the book's name. Why won't Aperture save my book layout? Why does the file appear to exist, yet the book doesn't appear in the project? Can I recover the in-progress layout?

Yep, that did it! Rebuilt the library as instructed, and the book layout reappeared in the project. Many thanks for the simple and effective solution!

Swing layout + awt paintcomponent issue

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I have a small issue while creating my very first application, or better, creating its GUI.
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Thank you
Take care
Edited by: classboy on Sep 8, 2009 9:28 PM

One of the keys to understanding use of layout managers with Java is that they can be nested. More accurately, you can next Components and have each one use its own layout manager. One solution to your problem is to have a main JPanel use a BorderLayout, then add another JPanel, say called textFieldPanel that uses GridLayout and holds the three JTextFields. This panel can be added to the main panel BorderLayout.SOUTH or .NORTH, depending on your preference, and then have a third JPanel a drawingPanel that overrides paintComponent and displays the graphics, and add this to the main JPanel BorderLayout.CENTER.
The iterations possible here are close to endless.
Much luck.

Using Java swing layout

I'm rather new at this and i'm having trouble creating my desired layout, actually i'm having trouble picking my desired layout.
this is how i'd want my program to look...
name place time address
mary Hos. 12:00 70 sine st. JButton
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my issues are as follows,
I have just 4 title labels (name, place, time, address) but there are essentially 5 components that make up the body of the list (all the others + a JButton). can anyone tell me what Layout i should use?? i've tried GridBag but i'm having trouble with the JButtons. And How in the world can i place the final OK button?

I suppose those things were supposed to be arranged in columns? Then you want a JTable. And if you want it to be uneditable, then just make it uneditable. There's no need for enormous workarounds.

Swing layout books ?

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