HBox Layout in JavaFX

HBox, also referred to as Horizontal Box, is a layout pane that arranges all the nodes of a JavaFX application in a single horizontal row. The HBox layout pane is represented by a class named HBox of the package javafx.scene.layout. Instantiate this class to create an HBox layout. Constructors of HBox class is as follows −

• HBox() − It is the default constructor that constructs an HBox layout with 0 spacing.

• HBox(double spacingVal) − It constructs a new HBox layout with the specified spacing between nodes.

• HBox(double spacingVal, Node nodes) − This parameterized constructor of HBox class accepts children nodes as well as spacing between them and creates a new HBox layout with the specified components.

• HBox(Node nodes) − It creates an HBox layout with specified children nodes and 0 spacing.

In the below snapshot, we can see the UI components inside the red box are placed within a horizontal layout −

The HBox class has the following properties −

• alignment − This property represents the alignment of the nodes in the bounds of the HBox. We can set value to this property using the setter method setAlignment().

• fillHeight − This property is of Boolean type and on setting this to true, the resizable nodes in the HBox are resized to the height of the HBox. We can set value to this property using the setter method setFillHeight().

• spacing − This property is of double type and it represents the space between the children of the HBox. We can set value to this property using the setter method setSpacing().

• padding − It represents the space between the border of HBox and its child nodes. We can set value to this property using the setter method setPadding() which accepts Insets constructor as a parameter value.

In addition to these, HBox class also provides a couple of methods, which are as follows −

Example

The following program is an example of the HBox layout. Here, we are inserting a text field and two buttons named as play and stop. Save this JavaFX code in a file with the name HBoxExample.java.

import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.geometry.Insets; 
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button; 
import javafx.scene.control.TextField; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
import javafx.scene.layout.HBox;

public class HBoxExample extends Application {   
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {       
      //creating a text field   
      TextField textField = new TextField();       
      
      //Creating the play button 
      Button playButton = new Button("Play");       
      
      //Creating the stop button 
      Button stopButton = new Button("stop"); 
       
      //Instantiating the HBox class  
      HBox hbox = new HBox();    
      
      //Setting the space between the nodes of a HBox pane 
      hbox.setSpacing(10);    
      
      //Adding all the nodes to the HBox 
      hbox.getChildren().addAll(textField, playButton, stopButton);   

      //Setting the margin to the nodes 
      hbox.setMargin(textField, new Insets(20, 20, 20, 20)); 
      hbox.setMargin(playButton, new Insets(20, 20, 20, 20)); 
      hbox.setMargin(stopButton, new Insets(20, 20, 20, 20));      
      
      //Creating a scene object
      Scene scene = new Scene(hbox, 400, 300);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Hbox Example in JavaFX"); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene); 
         
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   } 
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls HBoxExample.java
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls HBoxExample

Output

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window as shown below.

Example

In the following example, we are going to use the parameterized constructor of the HBox class to create a horizontal layout. Save this JavaFX code in a file with the name HBoxExample.java.

import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.geometry.Pos; 
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button; 
import javafx.scene.control.TextField; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
import javafx.scene.layout.HBox;

public class HBoxExample extends Application {   
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {       
      //creating a text field   
      TextField textField = new TextField();       
      
      //Creating the play button 
      Button playButton = new Button("Play");       
      
      //Creating the stop button 
      Button stopButton = new Button("stop"); 
       
      //Instantiating the HBox class  
      HBox box = new HBox(10, textField, playButton, stopButton);    
      box.setAlignment( Pos.CENTER);

      //Creating a scene object
      Scene scene = new Scene(box, 400, 300);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Hbox Example in JavaFX"); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene); 
         
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   } 
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls HBoxExample.java
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls HBoxExample

Output

On executing, the above program generates the following output.