Does anyone know how to layout a JToolBar that doesn't move or re-size any components placed in it?

java, jtoolbar, layout, preferredsize, swing

Solution

As already mentioned: the default Layout of JToolBar is-a BoxLayout which respects a component's maxSize. A JComboBox hasn't a reasonable max, so you need to subclass and override getMaxSize:

protected JComboBox createCombo(Object[] shapeIcons) {
    return new JComboBox( shapeIcons ) {

        @Override
        public Dimension getMaximumSize() {
            return getPreferredSize();
        }

    };
}

// usage (keep the default layoutManager of the toolbar)
shapeChooser = createCombo(shapeIcons);
toolBar.add(shapeChooser);
... 
colorChooser = createCombo( colorNames );
toolBar.add(colorChooser)

Problem

Can anyone help with this problem I'm trying to create a JToolBar and I want all its components to be fixed in size and position. I've tried a few different layout managers but they all center and/or re-size the components when the frame it's in is re-sized. Here is an example using GridbagLayout, I have also used the default layout manager using the `toolbar.add(component)` method but the result is the same : ' ``` import java.awt.BorderLayout; import java.awt.Component; import java.awt.Dimension; import java.awt.GridBagConstraints; import java.awt.GridBagLayout; import javax.swing.*; public class ToolBarTest extends JFrame { private JToolBar toolbar; private JPanel mainPanel; private JPanel toolBarPanel; private JButton aButton; private JCheckBox aCheckBox; private JList aList; private Box toolbarBox; private GridBagConstraints toolbarConstraints; private GridBagLayout toolbarLayout; private JLabel shapeLabel; private JComboBox<ImageIcon> shapeChooser; private JLabel colorLabel; private JComboBox colorChooser; private String colorNames[] = { "Black" , "Blue", "Cyan", "Dark Gray", "Gray", "Green", "Light Gray", "Magenta", "Orange", "Pink", "Red", "White", "Yellow", "Custom" }; private String shapeNames[] = { "Line", "Oval", "Rectangle", "3D Rectangle","Paint Brush", "Rounded Rectangle" }; public ToolBarTest() { setLayout( new BorderLayout() ); setDefaultCloseOperation( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE ); setSize( 500, 500 ); add( createToolBar(), BorderLayout.PAGE_START ); setVisible( true ); } public void addToToolbar( Component component, int row, int column ) { toolbarConstraints.gridx = column; toolbarConstraints.gridy = row; toolbarConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.WEST; toolbarConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.NONE; toolbarConstraints.weightx = 0; toolbarConstraints.weighty = 0; toolbarConstraints.gridwidth = 1; toolbarConstraints.gridheight = 1; toolbarLayout.setConstraints( component, toolbarConstraints ); toolbar.add( component ); }// end addToToolbar public final JToolBar createToolBar() { toolbarLayout = new GridBagLayout(); toolbarConstraints = new GridBagConstraints(); // create the tool bar which holds the items to draw toolbar = new JToolBar(); toolbar.setBorderPainted(true); toolbar.setLayout( toolbarLayout ); toolbar.setFloatable( true ); shapeLabel = new JLabel( "Shapes: " ); addToToolbar( shapeLabel, 0, 1 ); String iconNames[] = { "PaintImages/Line.jpg", "PaintImages/Oval.jpg", "PaintImages/Rect.jpg", "PaintImages/3DRect.jpg","PaintImages/PaintBrush.jpg", "PaintImages/RoundRect.jpg"}; ImageIcon shapeIcons[] = new ImageIcon[ shapeNames.length ]; // create image icons for( int shapeButton = 0; shapeButton < shapeNames.length; shapeButton++ ) { shapeIcons[ shapeButton ] = new ImageIcon( iconNames[ shapeButton ] ); }// end for shapeChooser = new JComboBox< ImageIcon >( shapeIcons ); shapeChooser.setSize( new Dimension( 50, 20 )); shapeChooser.setPrototypeDisplayValue( shapeIcons[ 0 ] ); shapeChooser.setSelectedIndex( 0 ); addToToolbar( shapeChooser, 0, 2 ); colorLabel = new JLabel( "Colors: " ); addToToolbar( colorLabel, 0, 3 ); colorChooser = new JComboBox( colorNames ); addToToolbar( colorChooser, 0, 4 ); return toolbar; }// end createToolBar public static void main( String args[] ) { new ToolBarTest(); }// end main }// end class ToolBarTest' ```

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