:: JGOODIES :: Forms
General
:: Readme
:: Release Notes
:: License
:: Whitepaper
:: Visual Builders
:: References
:: Tips & Tricks
:: FAQ

Reference
:: Alignments
:: Constant Sizes
:: Component Sizes
:: Bounded Sizes
:: Cols & Rows
:: Cell Constraints
:: Groups
:: Layout Variables

API Docs

Web Pages
:: Project Home
:: Downloads
:: Announcements
:: Mailing Lists
:: Issue Tracker
:: More Examples

:: Readme :: Forms 1.4 ::

The Forms framework helps you lay out and implement elegant Swing panels quickly and consistently. It makes simple things easy and the hard stuff possible, the good design easy and the bad difficult.

Since version 1.4 the JGoodies Forms requires Java 5 or later and the JGoodies Common library. Forms versions for Java 1.4 are available in the JGoodies Archive.

Top Questions

:: What are the main benefits?
:: Can I use the Forms in a commercial product?
:: How to get started?
:: Where do I get support?
:: How to report a problem?

Distribution Contents

jgoodies-forms-1.4.1.jar   the library jar
 
lib   required libraries
 
docs/api   JavaDocs directory
 
src/core   Java sources for the library core
src/extras   Java sources for useful extensions
src/test   Java sources for unit tests
 
LICENSE.txt   the license agreement
README.html   this readme file
RELEASE-NOTES.txt   Release Notes
build.xml   ANT build file
default.properties   ANT default build properties

Open Issue

There's a weakness in the FormLayout that may require an API extension. Components that span multiple columns or rows do not affect the column width or row height resp., but can in some cases expand the container.
I'm looking for a means to let the layout grid honor these components that is both powerful and easy to understand. See the FAQ for details and a workaround.

Acknowledgements

The Forms project has been financed by Johannes Riege, and customers of the JGoodies Swing Suite. It is only with their money that I can provide, maintain, and improve this library at no charge.

FormLayout has been inspired by Mullet&Sano's grid system, Daniel Barbalace's TableLayout, Daniel Michalik's HIGLayout, and Doug Stein's GridBagLayout. The concept of dialog units stems from Microsoft user interface implementations.

(c) 2011 JGoodies