java - How to make SWT/JFace dialogs which show similar behaviour(layouts) under all window resolutions

Question

The JFace Dialogs I have created show difference in layouts under different resolutions.How to create dialog in JFace or SWT which show same layout under all resolutions just like the dialogs used in Eclipse.

i mean that on changing the screen resolution to 800x600 pixels and choosing extra large fonts the layout of the dialog gets disturbed which is not the case with Eclipse IDE dialogs.Just check out the screenshot of my dialog.

Answer 1

Ok, based on the discussion in chat, it seems like the guys previously working on this code restricted the size of the individual widgets. I created a dummy dialog which resembles the one in your question. It does not restrict widget sizes. Instead the layouts take care of the sizing:

import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.Dialog;
import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.IDialogConstants;
import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Button;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Combo;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Group;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.List;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

public class DummyDialog extends Dialog {

    private Composite composite;

    public DummyDialog(Shell parentShell)
    {
        super(parentShell);
        setShellStyle(parentShell.getStyle() | SWT.CLOSE | SWT.TITLE | SWT.BORDER | SWT.APPLICATION_MODAL);
        setBlockOnOpen(true);
    }

    protected Control createDialogArea(Composite parent) {
        this.composite = (Composite) super.createDialogArea(parent);

        GridLayout layout = new GridLayout(1, false);
        layout.marginHeight = 5;
        layout.marginWidth = 10;

        composite.setLayout(layout);

        createContent();

        return composite;
    }

    private void createContent()
    {
        createTopContent();

        createMiddleContent();

        createBottomContent();
    }

    private void createTopContent()
    {
        Composite top = new Composite(composite, SWT.NONE);

        top.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, false));
        top.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, false));

        Label firstLabel = new Label(top, SWT.NONE);
        firstLabel.setText("X-Ref Library");
        Text firstText = new Text(top, SWT.BORDER);
        firstText.setText("MANISH2XA");
        firstText.setEditable(false);
        firstText.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));

        Label secondLabel = new Label(top, SWT.NONE);
        secondLabel.setText("Text");
        Text secondText = new Text(top, SWT.BORDER);
        secondText.setText("Test Lib for Manish");
        secondText.setEditable(false);
        secondText.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));
    }

    private void createMiddleContent()
    {
        Composite middle = new Composite(composite, SWT.NONE);
        middle.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, false));
        middle.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.FILL, true, true));

        Group leftGroup = new Group(middle, SWT.NONE);
        leftGroup.setText("Object Library(s)");
        leftGroup.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, false));
        leftGroup.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.FILL, true, true));

        List leftList = new List(leftGroup, SWT.BORDER);
        leftList.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.FILL, true, true));
        leftList.add("DUMMY");

        Composite buttons = new Composite(middle, SWT.NONE);
        buttons.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, false));

        Button moveUp = new Button(buttons, SWT.PUSH);
        moveUp.setText("Move up");
        moveUp.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));
        Button moveDown = new Button(buttons, SWT.PUSH);
        moveDown.setText("Move down");
        moveDown.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));
        Button modify = new Button(buttons, SWT.PUSH);
        modify.setText("Modify");
        modify.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));
        Button remove = new Button(buttons, SWT.PUSH);
        remove.setText("Remove");
        remove.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));

        Group rightGroup = new Group(middle, SWT.NONE);
        rightGroup.setText("Source Library(s)");
        rightGroup.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, false));
        rightGroup.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.FILL, true, true));

        List rightList = new List(rightGroup, SWT.BORDER);
        rightList.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.FILL, true, true));
        rightList.add("DUMMY");
    }

    private void createBottomContent()
    {
        Composite bottom = new Composite(composite, SWT.NONE);
        bottom.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, false));
        bottom.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, false));

        Label leftLabel = new Label(bottom, SWT.NONE);
        leftLabel.setText("Library");

        Label rightLabel = new Label(bottom, SWT.NONE);
        rightLabel.setText("Type");

        new Label(bottom, SWT.NONE);

        Text leftText = new Text(bottom, SWT.BORDER);
        leftText.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));

        Combo combo = new Combo(bottom, SWT.NONE);
        combo.add("Object Library");
        combo.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));

        Button add = new Button(bottom, SWT.PUSH);
        add.setText("Add");
        add.setLayoutData(new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.CENTER, true, true));
    }

    protected void configureShell(Shell newShell)
    {
        super.configureShell(newShell);
        newShell.setText("Application Library List");
    }

    @Override
    protected void createButtonsForButtonBar(Composite parent) {
        super.createButtonsForButtonBar(parent);

        Button ok = getButton(IDialogConstants.OK_ID);
        ok.setText("Apply Changes");
        setButtonLayoutData(ok);

        Button cancel = getButton(IDialogConstants.CANCEL_ID);
        cancel.setText("Cancel");
        setButtonLayoutData(cancel);
    }

    public void okPressed()
    {
        this.close();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        new DummyDialog(new Shell()).open();
    }
}

Here is how it looks: