gridbaglayout?

yes thats the one

yeah. i hate gridbaglayout. i actually have some Swing code in front of me

well mantisse made it bearable

have you used gridpane in scenebuilder?

I have never used scenebuilder

until a year ago I never did anything with javafx

it's ok because you drag components on, adjust the columns, add rows using WYWIWYG...press Ctrl+P to review...pretty rapid

the whole column constraints thing isn't that relevant because the tool sets them for you

Before we merge the gridpane ticket, we should take a look at the current gridpane API and see if we can do it better, or if it's OK, at least together with the new functionality. Since I don't know it well, I'm unsure if this make sense, but when I think of building a grid, I'd instinctively think something like:

@User uploaded a file: Untitled

rofl we are saying the same 🙂

Yes 🙂 hehe

Column constraints would be set as parameters to the column and the same for row constraints.

yes

I don't know if this would work good with JavaFX's GridPane, but if it make sense we should consider such an approach.

I like that it makes it easy to visualize the resulting UI, and also easy to configure constraints. Since the constraints would be parameters to the col/row builders they would be discoverable, and therefore much easier to use.

If you configure individual constraints per element inside the columns however, we might need something else, or just have columnConstraints as an object on every Parent.

When I look at the existing builder however, it seems it's in a way even easier to use, because you don't need to write col, you just put whatever component you want inside the row, and it becomes a column. The constraints then have to be set on the object though, which makes the settings less discoverable, but frankly, in line with how everything else in the builders work.

Maybe this is a wild goose chase, just wanted to mention it.

but the columns and their constraints are very important if you use the gridPane.

Yes, they are.

if we could have the constraints as part of the column or row?

Yeah, but with a row first. The alternative would be:

gridpane { row { label("hello") { columnConstraints(...) } } }

But since we require the

row

builder, maybe the symmetry is better if we require the

column

builder as well?

I skipped the row in my example but it would be done exactly the same way

Yes.

We already have this builder: