The SWT FormLayout
When
an
interface is designed to allow for data input from
a user, it is usually best to design that interface as a
form. The SWT FormLayout
is
designed to allow for easy programming of forms. Using
FormLayout
you pin widgets to a particular
position on the window, specifying the height and width of the widget
either in pixels or as a percentage of the total container height and
width.
FormLayout
is the most powerful of the layout
classes as far as what it can do for you, but that power comes at the
price of having even more classes and settings to deal with when
creating the desired physical layout. With
FillLayout
, you need only manage style settings
and no additional supporting classes. RowLayout
added new settings and an optional RowData
class
that is seldom used. With GridLayout
comes many
additional settings and a GridData
class that,
although not mandatory, is required to provide a fully functional
GridLayout
.
With
FormLayout
there is even more
to configure, including two helper
classes—FormData
and FormAttachment
.
Unlike with GridLayout
, where use of
GridData
was optional, use of
FormData
and FormAttachment
is
mandatory. Failure to use the FormData
class, for
example, causes all widgets to be stacked on top of each other in the
same space on the container.
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