JAutoLayout

JAutoLayout is a constraint-based layout management library based on the kiwi implementation of the Cassowary linear arithmetic constraint-solving algorithm. It allows you to lay out components in (Java) Swing using Apple's Visual Format Language (VFL).

Installation

Maven

In pom.xml, add the following at the end of the <repositories> section:

<repository>
    <id>jitpack.io</id>
    <url>https://jitpack.io</url>
</repository>

Then, add the following to the <dependencies> section:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.github.kausko</groupId>
    <artifactId>Jautolayout</artifactId>
    <version>-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>

Gradle

In build.gradle, add the following at the end of the repositories section:

maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }

Then, add the following to the dependencies section:

implementation 'com.github.kausko.JAutoLayout:-SNAPSHOT'

Notes:

• Only works with Java 17 and above
• The -SNAPSHOT version is the latest commit on the main branch. It can be replaced with a specific commit hash or tag.
• For Kotlin DSL, use url = uri("https://jitpack.io") and implementation(...).

Usage

import org.JAutoLayout.JAutoLayout;

public class Example {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // ...
        var button1 = new JButton("button1");
        var button2 = new JButton("button2");

        var viewNames = new HashMap<String, Component>();

        viewNames.put("button1", button1);
        viewNames.put("button2", button2);

        // VFL for equal width buttons
        var constraints = """
                    [button1(==button2)]
                    |-[button1]-[button2]-|
                    V:[button1(==button2)]
                """;
        var layout = new JAutoLayout(constraints, viewNames);
        var panel = new JPanel(layout);
        panel.add(button1);
        panel.add(button2);
        // ...
    }
}

Examples

• With Swing
• With Vaadin (and other Java GUI frameworks)