Full screen

[Nupur Gupta]

I have written a swing application using a JFrame and now realise it should have been in full screen mode. But resizing it now is going to cause all the components to go haywire... is there any way I can use full screen maintaining my current proportions?

[Nathan Pruett]

What layout(s) are you using?

[Nupur Gupta]

Nate..thanks for replying.. I am using GridBagLayout...
Maybe I am not doing so correctly...hmmm

[Maneesh Godbole]

Why do you want to make a full-screen-mode application resizable? Doesnt make sense. Also it is a bad usability design.

I would recommend the following:
1) Launch in full screen mode (Default)
2) Provide the user with an option of toggling between full screen and non full screen mode.
3) Once the user enters the non full screen mode, s/he can always resize the window.

[Nathan Pruett]

I think that applications should resize well whether you plan to use them in full screen mode or in a resizeable frame - then you won't run into problems when you decide to switch between the two - or when users with different screen sizes/resolutions use your application.

GridBagLayout can do this - but make sure you are using use weightx, weighty, and fill - these tell GridBagLayout how to distribute "extra" space in the layout.

[Nupur Gupta]

It's not about resizing....I had coded the application to run in a smaller screen....now if I set it to large full screen..everything goes haywire....e.g. I had just two rows..now 2 rows take up the whole screen...and it just looks plain bad.
Thanks so much for your help

[Maneesh Godbole]

As Nathan correctly pointed out, this is the GridBagConstraints issue.
Try this:

//code to initialize GridBagConstraints(gbc) and set various parameters
//Code to add whatever components need to be added

//Now do this
gbc.weightx=1.0;
gbc.weighty=1.0;
gbc.gridy++;
yourContainer.add(new JLabel(" "),gbc);

This will push your components to the top of the container. Whenever the component is resized on the plus side, the extra space will be taken up with the empty JLabel(" ");

Best of luck

[Nupur Gupta]

Hi,
Thanks a LOT for your help. However , it is not working.. I don't quite understand. So this is what I have done...

I have a JFrame, to which is added a JPanel(tsPanel). The Grid Layout of tsPanel is set, and I add some components to it. After each component, I add

gbc.weightx=1.0;
gbc.weighty=1.0;
gbc.gridy++;
JLabel test = new JLabel(" ");
gbl.setConstraints(test, gbc);
tsPanel.add(test,gbc);

So next, I open my frame, and I resize it to occupy the full screen(I am not yet using the Java APIs to set full screen mode). I find that my components have gone awry, that is the size and orientation that I had in my un-resized window is not maintained.
Any pointers? Would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Maneesh Godbole]

Take a look at this sample code. Notice my comments inline. Your mistake was that you added the JLabel after every component.

Best of luck

  public class TestFrame extends JFrame {

public TestFrame() {
setSize(1000,700);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

getContentPane().add(getDemoPanel());
}

private Component getDemoPanel() {
JPanel demoPanel=new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc=new GridBagConstraints();

gbc.weightx=1.0;
gbc.anchor=GridBagConstraints.WEST;
gbc.fill=GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
gbc.insets=new Insets(5,5,5,5);
gbc.gridx=0;
gbc.gridy=0;

JPanel panel1=new JPanel();
//Intentionally set some border so we can see the panel bounds
panel1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
//This is just a demo button. Doesnt really matter what components you put here
panel1.add(new JButton("Button One in Panel 1"));
demoPanel.add(panel1,gbc);

JPanel panel2=new JPanel();
panel2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
panel2.add(new JButton("Button Two in Panel 2"));
gbc.gridy++;
demoPanel.add(panel2,gbc);

JPanel panel3=new JPanel();
panel3.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
panel3.add(new JButton("Button Three in Panel 3"));
gbc.gridy++;
demoPanel.add(panel3,gbc);

//IMPORTANT
//Do this only once, after you have finished adding all the components (in this case, the panels)
//to the demo panel
gbc.weighty=1.0;
gbc.gridy++;
//To see the "push up" effect I mentioned, just comment out this line (adding the label)
//All the 3 panels will be centered on the demo panel.
//Because of this Label all the components stay at the top even if the JFrame is resized
demoPanel.add(new JLabel(" "),gbc);

return demoPanel;
}
 
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new TestFrame().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}  

[Maneesh Godbole]

Take a look at this sample code. Notice my comments inline. Your mistake was that you added the JLabel after every component.

Best of luck

  public class TestFrame extends JFrame {

public TestFrame() {
setSize(1000,700);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

getContentPane().add(getDemoPanel());
}

private Component getDemoPanel() {
JPanel demoPanel=new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc=new GridBagConstraints();

gbc.weightx=1.0;
gbc.anchor=GridBagConstraints.WEST;
gbc.fill=GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
gbc.insets=new Insets(5,5,5,5);
gbc.gridx=0;
gbc.gridy=0;

JPanel panel1=new JPanel();
//Intentionally set some border so we can see the panel bounds
panel1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
//This is just a demo button. Doesnt really matter what components you put here
panel1.add(new JButton("Button One in Panel 1"));
demoPanel.add(panel1,gbc);

JPanel panel2=new JPanel();
panel2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
panel2.add(new JButton("Button Two in Panel 2"));
gbc.gridy++;
demoPanel.add(panel2,gbc);

JPanel panel3=new JPanel();
panel3.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
panel3.add(new JButton("Button Three in Panel 3"));
gbc.gridy++;
demoPanel.add(panel3,gbc);

//IMPORTANT
//Do this [B]only once[/B], after you have finished adding all the components (in this case, the panels)
//to the demo panel
gbc.weighty=1.0;
gbc.gridy++;
//To see the "push up" effect I mentioned, just comment out this line (adding the label)
//All the 3 panels will be centered on the demo panel.
//Because of this Label all the components stay at the top even if the JFrame is resized
demoPanel.add(new JLabel(" "),gbc);

return demoPanel;
}
 
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new TestFrame().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}  

[Nupur Gupta]

Thank you so much Maneesh! It worked - it is a very big help!!!