Following example shows how to use GrigBagLayout. We are going to create a Builder class which will ease the work to develop a form.

Example

The Builder class

package com.logicbig.uicommon;

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.util.function.Consumer;

public class FormBuilder {
  private final Container container;
  private int row;
  private int col = -1;
  private GridBagConstraints labelCons;

  private FormBuilder(Container container) {
      this.container = container;
      container.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
  }

  public static FormBuilder init(Container container) {
      FormBuilder builder = new FormBuilder(container);
      return builder;
  }

  private void initLabelCons() {
      labelCons = new GridBagConstraints();
      labelCons.weightx = 0;
      labelCons.gridwidth = 1;
      labelCons.ipadx = 1;
      labelCons.anchor = GridBagConstraints.NORTHEAST;
  }

  //add component without label
  public FormBuilder add(JComponent comp) {
      this.add(null, comp, null);
      return this;
  }

  //add component without label and allow caller to set constraints
  @SafeVarargs
  public final FormBuilder add(JComponent comp, Consumer<GridBagConstraints>... consSetters) {
      this.add(null, comp, consSetters);
      return this;
  }

  //add component with label and allow caller to set constraints
  @SafeVarargs
  public final FormBuilder add(String label, JComponent comp, Consumer<GridBagConstraints>... consSetters) {
      if (label != null) {
          if (this.labelCons == null) {
              initLabelCons();
          }
          JLabel jLabel = new JLabel(label);
          labelCons.gridx = ++col;
          labelCons.gridy = row;
          container.add(jLabel, labelCons);
      }
      GridBagConstraints cons = new GridBagConstraints();
      cons.gridx = ++col;
      cons.gridy = row;
      cons.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;//by default fill the available grid space
      cons.insets = new Insets(0, 5, 5, 0);
      if (consSetters != null) {//allow client side to set constraints
          for (Consumer<GridBagConstraints> cs : consSetters) {
              cs.accept(cons);
          }
      }
      container.add(comp, cons);
      return this;
  }

  //add multiple labels in current row
  public FormBuilder addLabelsAsRowHeading(String... labels) {
      GridBagConstraints cons = new GridBagConstraints();
      cons.gridy = row;
      for (String label : labels) {
          cons.gridx = ++col;
          JLabel jLabel = new JLabel(label);
          container.add(jLabel, cons);
      }
      return this;
  }

 //start new row
  public FormBuilder newRow() {
      ++row;
      col = -1;
      return this;
  }

  //skip columns
  public FormBuilder skipColumns(int columns) {
      col+=columns;
      return this;
  }

  /**
   * Methods to set constraints, Useful when used as Java 8 method reference
   */
  //horizontal span 2
  public static void spanX2(GridBagConstraints c) {
      c.gridwidth = 2;
  }

  //horizontal span 3
  public static void spanX3(GridBagConstraints c) {
      c.gridwidth = 3;
  }

  //horizontal span 4
  public static void spanX4(GridBagConstraints c) {
      c.gridwidth = 4;
  }

  //vertical span 2
  public static void spanY2(GridBagConstraints c) {
      c.gridheight = 2;
  }

  //fills horizontally if parent resized
  public static void fillParentX(GridBagConstraints c) {
      c.weightx = 1;
  }

  //fills vertically if parent resized
  public static void fillParentY(GridBagConstraints c) {
      c.weighty = 1;
  }
  //todo add more if needed
}

Main class

public class GriBagLayoutExampleMain {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
      JPanel formPanel = createFormPanel();
      JFrame frame = createFrame();
      frame.add(formPanel);
      frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      frame.setVisible(true);
  }

  private static JPanel createFormPanel() {
      //initialize fields
      JTextField nameField = new JTextField(10);
      JTextField streetField = new JTextField(10),
              cityField = new JTextField(5), zipCodeField = new JTextField(5);
      JTextField phoneNumberField = new JTextField();
      JTextField ageField = new JTextField();
      JTextPane descriptionField = new JTextPane();
      descriptionField.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.gray));
      JButton submitBtn = new JButton("Submit");

      //create panel
      JPanel panel = new JPanel();
      panel.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10));
      //using FormBuilder
      FormBuilder.init(panel)
                 .add("Full Name", nameField, FormBuilder::spanX3)
                 .newRow()
                 .addLabelsAsRowHeading("", "Street", "City", "Zip Code")
                 .newRow()
                 .add("Address", streetField).add(cityField).add(zipCodeField)
                 .newRow()
                 .add("Phone", phoneNumberField).add("Age", ageField)
                 .newRow()
                 .add("Description", descriptionField, FormBuilder::spanX3, FormBuilder::spanY2,
                         FormBuilder::fillParentY)
                 .newRow()
                 .newRow()
                 .skipColumns(2).add(submitBtn, FormBuilder::spanX2);

      return panel;
  }

  private static JFrame createFrame() {
      JFrame frame = new JFrame("GridBagLayout Builder");
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.setSize(new Dimension(400, 300));
      return frame;
  }
}

Output

Example Project

Dependencies and Technologies Used:

• JDK 10
• Maven 3.5.4