Libgdx Can you set the bounds of a ScrollPane? - libgdx

Question

So recently i discovered Scrollpanes and have been trying implement one properly.
After a bit of searching i found this section of code
public void create() {
batch = new SpriteBatch();
skin = new Skin(Gdx.files.internal("data/uiskin.json"));
stage = new Stage();
gamelog = new Label("Start", skin);
gamelog.setAlignment(Align.center);
gamelog.setWrap(true);
Table scrollTable = new Table();
scrollTable.add(gamelog);
scrollTable.row();
scroller = new ScrollPane(scrollTable);
Table table = new Table();
table.setFillParent(true);
table.add(scroller).fill().expand();
Now for the most part this code works well. a scrollpane is actually created and i can dynamically add text to it. my issue however is the size of the scrollpane takes up the whole screen, and initial text is centered in the middle of the scrollpane(so in the middle of the screen) and only starts to scroll once enough text has been added to take up the whole height of the screen.
Rather than expanding on its own what i actually want is for the scrollpane to take up just a small section at the bottom of the screen.
I have tried setting the bounds of the tables and of the scrollpane but the closest i have come is merely moving the scrollpane downwards(meaning the last text added is off screen and not in view. Its s if it completely ignores any width or height set and just expands on its own.
I figure i could get the desired effect by simply using a set of labels at the bottom of the screen and change their text dynamically but then the scroll feature would be lost. so before i do this i was hoping someone could shed some light on wether or not it is possible to resize and set a scrollpanes bounds?

Answer 1

Table uses cells to size its components. When you add a component to a table it returns the table's cell which holds that component. You can then use the cell to set the size of the component.
In your original code try this:
table.add(scroller).size(460, 200);
And if you want to change the scrollpane size after adding it to the table, you can get the cell from the table and then set its size like this:
table.add(scroller);
...
table.getCell(scroller).size(460, 200);
And here is the API for Cell:
https://libgdx.badlogicgames.com/nightlies/docs/api/com/badlogic/gdx/scenes/scene2d/ui/Cell.html

Answer 2

I stumbled across a solution with trial and error.
the following code works for me and allows the scrollpane to be resized and positioned. The main culprit seems to be the use of table.setFillParent(true); and the order in which you try to set the parent tables bounds.
batch = new SpriteBatch();
skin = new Skin(Gdx.files.internal("data/uiskin.json"));
stage = new Stage();
gamelog = new Label("Start", skin);
gamelog.setAlignment(Align.center);
gamelog.setWrap(true);
Table scrollTable = new Table();
scrollTable.add(gamelog);
scrollTable.row();
scroller = new ScrollPane(scrollTable);
Table table = new Table();
table.setBounds(10, 10, 460, 200);
table.add(scroller).fill().expand();
scrollTable.debug();
scroller.debug();
table.debug();
stage.addActor(table);