[NETBEANS-1411] Hard to align elements inside the swing GUI builder Matisse

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Open
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Affects Version/s: Next
• Component/s: guibuilder - Natural Layout
• External issue URL: https://netbeans.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=257519
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Christian Lenz
• Created: 12/Oct/18 09:27
• Updated: 17/Mar/20 07:49

Description

You can't be pixel perfect inside of the gui builder because of the automated gaps and rearrangement of the elements, when you move elements arround.

Please see my screencast (swingAlignmentBroken.gif) for what I mean. It is really hard to align all items, as I want, due to the gap, trying to be perfect fit but I can't align it px perfect. And then it will rearrangement a lot which breaks the layout.

The second screencast (matisseRearrangement.gif) shows that it grows below, when I try to make the space between label and textfield smaller.

I use the layout "Free Design". It should be really free. I mean in general the designer is good, better than the IntelliJ one, because they don't have such free designer, they only have grids and boxes, maybe this is enough but not if you want to be pixel perfect.

The other thing is, if you try to be pixel perfect, it can be a mess and the UI can look really shitty.

Cheers

Chris