BorderLayout (LayoutManagers)

Java LayoutManagers

The LayoutManagers are used to arrange components in a particular manner. The Java LayoutManagers facilitates us to control the positioning and size of the components in GUI forms. LayoutManager is an interface that is implemented by all the classes of layout managers. There are the following classes that represent the layout managers:

java.awt.BorderLayout
java.awt.FlowLayout
java.awt.GridLayout
java.awt.CardLayout
java.awt.GridBagLayout
javax.swing.BoxLayout
javax.swing.GroupLayout
javax.swing.ScrollPaneLayout
javax.swing.SpringLayout etc.

Java BorderLayout

The BorderLayout is used to arrange the components in five regions: north, south, east, west, and center. Each region (area) may contain one component only. It is the default layout of a frame or window. The BorderLayout provides five constants for each region:

public static final int NORTH
public static final int SOUTH
public static final int EAST
public static final int WEST
public static final int CENTER

Constructors of BorderLayout class:

BorderLayout(): creates a border layout but with no gaps between the components.
BorderLayout(int hgap, int vgap): creates a border layout with the given horizontal and vertical gaps between the components.

Example of BorderLayout class: Using BorderLayout() constructor

FileName: Border.java

import java.awt.*;  
import javax.swing.*;  
  
public class Border 
{  
JFrame f;  
Border()
{  
    f = new JFrame();  
      
     // creating buttons
    JButton b1 = new JButton("NORTH");; // the button will be labeled as NORTH 
    JButton b2 = new JButton("SOUTH");; // the button will be labeled as SOUTH
    JButton b3 = new JButton("EAST");; // the button will be labeled as EAST
    JButton b4 = new JButton("WEST");; // the button will be labeled as WEST
    JButton b5 = new JButton("CENTER");; // the button will be labeled as CENTER
      
    f.add(b1, BorderLayout.NORTH); // b1 will be placed in the North Direction  
    f.add(b2, BorderLayout.SOUTH);  // b2 will be placed in the South Direction  
    f.add(b3, BorderLayout.EAST);  // b2 will be placed in the East Direction  
    f.add(b4, BorderLayout.WEST);  // b2 will be placed in the West Direction  
    f.add(b5, BorderLayout.CENTER);  // b2 will be placed in the Center  
      
    f.setSize(300, 300);  
    f.setVisible(true);  
}  
public static void main(String[] args) {  
    new Border();  
}  
}  

Output:

download this example

Example of BorderLayout class: Using BorderLayout(int hgap, int vgap) constructor

The following example inserts horizontal and vertical gaps between buttons using the parameterized constructor BorderLayout(int hgap, int gap)

FileName: BorderLayoutExample.java

// import statement
import java.awt.*;  
import javax.swing.*;  
public class BorderLayoutExample
{	
JFrame jframe;  
// constructor
BorderLayoutExample()
{
    // creating a Frame	
    jframe = new JFrame();  
    // create buttons
    JButton btn1 = new JButton("NORTH");  
    JButton btn2 = new JButton("SOUTH");  
    JButton btn3 = new JButton("EAST"); 
    JButton btn4 = new JButton("WEST");  
    JButton btn5 = new JButton("CENTER");
     // creating an object of the BorderLayout class using 
     // the parameterized constructor where the horizontal gap is 20 
     // and vertical gap is 15. The gap will be evident when buttons are placed 
     // in the frame
    jframe.setLayout(new BorderLayout(20, 15));
    jframe.add(btn1, BorderLayout.NORTH);  
    jframe.add(btn2, BorderLayout.SOUTH);  
    jframe.add(btn3, BorderLayout.EAST);  
    jframe.add(btn4, BorderLayout.WEST);  
    jframe.add(btn5, BorderLayout.CENTER);  
    jframe.setSize(300,300);  
    jframe.setVisible(true);  
}  
// main method
public static void main(String argvs[]) 
{  
    new BorderLayoutExample();  
}  
}  

Output:

Java BorderLayout: Without Specifying Region

The add() method of the JFrame class can work even when we do not specify the region. In such a case, only the latest component added is shown in the frame, and all the components added previously get discarded. The latest component covers the whole area. The following example shows the same.

FileName: BorderLayoutWithoutRegionExample.java

// import statements
import java.awt.*;  
import javax.swing.*;  
  
public class BorderLayoutWithoutRegionExample
{	
JFrame jframe;  

// constructor
BorderLayoutWithoutRegionExample()
{	
    jframe = new JFrame();  
      
    JButton btn1 = new JButton("NORTH");  
    JButton btn2 = new JButton("SOUTH");  
    JButton btn3 = new JButton("EAST"); 
    JButton btn4 = new JButton("WEST");  
    JButton btn5 = new JButton("CENTER");
	
    // horizontal gap is 7, and the vertical gap is 7
    // Since region is not specified, the gaps are of no use
    jframe.setLayout(new BorderLayout(7, 7));
	
    // each button covers the whole area
    // however, the btn5 is the latest button 
    // that is added to the frame; therefore, btn5 
    // is shown
    jframe.add(btn1);  
    jframe.add(btn2);  
    jframe.add(btn3);
    jframe.add(btn4);
    jframe.add(btn5);
      
    jframe.setSize(300,300);  
    jframe.setVisible(true);  
}  

// main method
public static void main(String argvs[]) 
{  
    new BorderLayoutWithoutRegionExample();  
}  
}  

Output: