GridBagLayouts in GridLayout - swing

Question

Trying to build about this GUI in Swing:
In my MainFrame i set a GridLayout like that to achieve 1 row, 2 columns:
setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
In the Left Column i figures i would need a GridBagLayout as in the right column. Normal GridLayout doesn't work anymore because i want different sizes of each row. For the left column i tried this:
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
mapPanel = new MapPanel(map);
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridheight = 10;
add(mapPanel, gbc);
controlPanel = new JPanel();
controlPanel.add(new JButton("Test"));
controlPanel.add(new JButton("Test 2"));
controlPanel.add(new JButton("Test 3"));
controlPanel.add(new JButton("Test 4"));
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
add(controlPanel, gbc);
logPanel = new LogPanel();
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 2;
gbc.gridheight = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
add(logPanel, gbc);
This however will result in everything "packed together" in the left column. It won't expand to the 100% height and 50% width the column has. How can i achieve a GUI as in the picture?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Look at JNodeLayout. RectNode is exactly what you Need.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.border.LineBorder;
import com.smartg.swing.layout.JNodeLayout;
import com.smartg.swing.layout.LayoutNode.RectNode;
public class RectNodeDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String rootName = "root";
RectNode root = new RectNode(rootName);
JNodeLayout layout = new JNodeLayout(root);
layout.setHgap(1);
layout.setVgap(1);
JPanel target = new JPanel();
target.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10));
target.setLayout(layout);
addPanel(target, root, new Rectangle2D.Double(0, 0, .5, .5));
addPanel(target, root, new Rectangle2D.Double(0, .5, .5, .1));
addPanel(target, root, new Rectangle2D.Double(0, .6, .5, .4));
addPanel(target, root, new Rectangle2D.Double(.5, 0, .5, .9));
addPanel(target, root, new Rectangle2D.Double(.5, .9, .5, .1));
layout.syncNodes();
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane();
contentPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
contentPane.add(target, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
static void addPanel(JPanel target, RectNode node, Rectangle2D r) {
JPanel p = new JPanel();
target.add(p);
p.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.BLACK, 1));
node.add(p, r);
}
}

Answer 2

You could use the Relative Layout. This layout allows you to specify the relative sizes of each component.
To create your panel on the left the code would be something like:
RelativeLayout rl = new RelativeLayout(RelativeLayout.Y_AXIS);
rl.setFill( true );
JPanel left = new JPanel( rl );
left.add(panel1, new Float(50));
left.add(panel2, new Float(10));
left.add(panel3, new Float(40));

Answer 3

Using only GridBagLayout will suffice.
By setting gbc.gridheight = 10 you tell GridBag to use 10 rows for the component. (Similar to rowspan in HTML.) This, however, says nothing about the actual height of the component since rows don't have a fixed height. Consequently, this constraint doesn't have any effect when you're only using a single column. The name of the constraint is IMHO confusing.
Use GridBagConstraints.weightx and GridBagConstraints.weighty to specify where extra space should go. See How to Use GridBagLayout for more.
In combination with component's preferred sizes you'll be able to obtain a panel that will show your components when the panel is small and distribute extra space when the panel is 'too big'.
Though, as Andrew Thompson pointed out, using setPreferredSize() is not a very good way to go. Often, components already have their preferred size just fine as constructed. Just play around with all of GridBagConstraints and see what happens.
This might in the end be a better looking solution.