Name: clC74495 Date: 09/11/98


We are building a SwingSet IDE. Among other things
the visual editor must allow a user to edit the
LayoutManager that is attached to a JPanel.
The BorderLayout's API provides no way to find the
constraint associated with each child ("North",
"South", "East", etc.).

GridBagLayout already has such a thing:
(getConstaints).

Without this ability the BorderLayout is clumsy and
confusing when used in conjunction with an IDE
supporting a visual editor, since if the user
wants to edit a Component's contraint we
can't display the current value.

Adding a new methods called getConstraint(Component)
which returned a String would solve this problem.
(Review ID: 38184)
======================================================================

Name: krC82822 Date: 07/31/2001


java version "1.3.1"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.3.1-b24)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.3.1-b24, mixed mode)

It's currently not possible to tell how a given component is constrained
in a BorderLayout, or what component is at a specific constraint. There
are cases where this information is crucial. For example, restoring the
current location of a tool palette in a BorderLayout requires being able
to tell that the user dragged the palette to another position, and then
to save the new constraint. This information is locked up in the layout,
and there doesn't seem to be a practical way to recover it.
(Review ID: 127797)
======================================================================