[Chapter 19] BorderLayout
Author: John Zukowski
Date: Thu Jul 31 15:09:22 1997

#

| Chapter 19 java.awt Reference |

# BorderLayout

## Name

BorderLayout

##

## Description

`BorderLayout` is a `LayoutManager` that provides the means to lay out components along the edges of a container. It divides the container into five regions, named North, East, South, West, and Center. Normally you won't call the `LayoutManager`'s methods yourself. When you `add()` a `Component` to a `Container`, the `Container` calls the `addLayoutComponent()` method of its `LayoutManager`.

## Class Definition

    public class java.awt.BorderLayout
        extends java.lang.Object
        implements java.awt.LayoutManager2, java.io.Serializable {
      // Constants
      public final static String CENTER;
      public final static String EAST;
      public final static String NORTH;
      public final static String SOUTH;
      public final static String WEST;

      // Constructors
      public BorderLayout();
      public BorderLayout (int hgap, int vgap);

      // Instance Methods
      public void addLayoutComponent (Component comp, Object constraints);
      public void addLayoutComponent (String name, Component component);
      public int getHgap();
      public abstract float getLayoutAlignmentX(Container target);
      public abstract float getLayoutAlignmentY(Container target);
      public int getVgap();
      public abstract void invalidateLayout(Container target);

      public void layoutContainer (Container target);
      public abstract Dimension maximumLayoutSize(Container target);
      public Dimension minimumLayoutSize (Container target);
      public Dimension preferredLayoutSize (Container target);
      public void removeLayoutComponent (Component component);
      public void setHgap (int hgap);
      public void setVgap (int vgap);
      public String toString();
    }

## Constants

### CENTER

#### public final static String CENTER

A constant representing center orientation.

### EAST

#### public final static String EAST

A constant representing east orientation.

### NORTH

#### public final static String NORTH

A constant representing north orientation.

### SOUTH

#### public final static String SOUTH

A constant representing south orientation.

### WEST

#### public final static String WEST

A constant representing west orientation.

## Constructors

### BorderLayout

#### public BorderLayout()

Description

  Constructs a `BorderLayout` object.

#### public BorderLayout (int hgap, int vgap)

Parameters

  hgap

    Horizontal space between each component in the container.

  vgap

    Vertical space between each component in the container.

Description

  Constructs a `BorderLayout` object with the values specified as the gaps between each component in the container managed by this instance of `BorderLayout`.

## Instance Methods

### addLayoutComponent

#### public void addLayoutComponent (Component comp, Object constraints)

Parameters

  comp

    The component being added.

  constraints

    An object describing the constraints on this component.

Implements

  `LayoutManager2.addLayoutComponent()`

Description

  Adds the component `comp` to a container subject to the given `constraints`. This is a more general version of `addLayoutComponent(String, Component)` method. It corresponds to `java.awt.Container`'s `add(Component, Object)` method. In practice, it is used the same in version 1.1 as in Java 1.0.2, except with the parameters swapped:

      Panel p = new Panel(new BorderLayout());
      p.add(new Button("OK"), BorderLayout.SOUTH);

### addLayoutComponent

#### public void addLayoutComponent (String name, Component component)

Parameters

  name

    Name of region to add component to.

  component

    Actual component being added.

Implements

  `LayoutManager.addLayoutComponent()`

Description

  Adds a `component` to a container in region `name`. This has been replaced in version 1.1 with the more general `addLayoutComponent(Component, Object)`.

### getHgap

#### public int getHgap()

Returns

  The horizontal gap for this `BorderLayout` instance.

### getLayoutAlignmentX

#### public abstract float getLayoutAlignmentX (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container to inspect.

Returns

  The value .5 for all containers.

Description

  This method returns the preferred alignment of the given container `target`. A return value of 0 is left aligned, .5 is centered, and 1 is right aligned.

### getLayoutAlignmentY

#### public abstract float getLayoutAlignmentY (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container to inspect.

Returns

  The value .5 for all containers.

Description

  This method returns the preferred alignment of the given container `target`. A return value of 0 is top aligned, .5 is centered, and 1 is bottom aligned.

### getVgap

#### public int getVgap()

Returns

  The vertical gap for this `BorderLayout` instance.

### invalidateLayout

#### public abstract void invalidateLayout (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container to invalidate.

Description

  Does nothing.

### layoutContainer

#### public void layoutContainer (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container that needs to be redrawn.

Implements

  `LayoutManager.layoutContainer()`

Description

  Draws components contained within `target`.

### maximumLayoutSize

#### public abstract Dimension maximumLayoutSize (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container to inspect.

  Returns

    A `Dimension` whose horizontal and vertical components are `Integer.MAX_VALUE`.

Description

  For `BorderLayout`, a maximal `Dimension` is always returned.

### minimumLayoutSize

#### public Dimension minimumLayoutSize (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container whose size needs to be calculated.

Returns

  Minimum `Dimension` of the container `target`.

Implements

  `LayoutManager.minimumLayoutSize()`

Description

  Calculates minimum size of `target`. container.

### preferredLayoutSize

#### public Dimension preferredLayoutSize (Container target)

Parameters

  target

    The container whose size needs to be calculated.

Returns

  Preferred `Dimension` of the container `target`.

Implements

  `LayoutManager.preferredLayoutSize()`

Description

  Calculates preferred size of `target` container.

### removeLayoutComponent

#### public void removeLayoutComponent (Component component)

Parameters

  component

    Component to stop tracking.

Implements

  `LayoutManager.removeLayoutComponent()`

Description

  Removes `component` from any internal tracking systems.

### setHgap

#### public void setHgap (int hgap)

Parameters

  hgap

    The horizontal gap value.

Description

  Sets the horizontal gap between components.

### setVgap

#### public void setVgap (int vgap)

Parameters

  vgap

    The vertical gap value.

Description

  Sets the vertical gap between components.

### toString

#### public String toString()

Returns

  A string representation of the `BorderLayout` object.

Overrides

  `Object.toString()`

## See Also

`Component`, `Container`, `Dimension`, `LayoutManager`, `LayoutManager2`, `Object`, `String`

Adjustable |  | Button