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Other ResourcesBack in 2000, I started thinking about creating a table layout manager that would be as easy-to-use as HTML tables. I looked on the internet for existing solutions and found several. One I particularly liked had a user interface quite similar to the TableLayout I provide. However, it had subtle bugs which were not easy to fix given the existing architecture. This caused me to write my own version from scratch while retaining many of its good UI ideas. Unfortunately, I no longer have a pointer to that TableLayout or the author who wrote it. I found a version that has an interface similar to mine and may have been the original inspiration, although I cannot verify it. My version of TableLayout appears now through the courtesy of Credence Systems Corporation, who holds the copyright and has allowed me to release the code under the Artistic License. The most well-known TableLayout is written by Daniel Barbalace. I've used this version, but I dislike its approach of having to define row widths and column heights in advance. As I recall, if you want row or column gaps, these had to be treated as empty rows and columns. My TableLayout is for lazier designers: Other than specifying the number of columns, you can decide on additional settings as you add components. Row and column gaps, which I use often and which I almost always want to be a consistent size, can be set with two simple attributes specified when the layout manager is created. There are many other TableLayout managers. Obviously a lot of people had the same idea! Rather than try to list all others, I suggest you do a Google search. |
