StackPane Layout in JavaFX

The StackPane layout serve as a container arranges all the child nodes on top of each other, just like in stack. The node added first is placed at the bottom of the stack and the subsequent nodes are placed on top of it. In the figure below, a StackPane layout is illustrated by the arrangement of three rectangular boxes stacked on top of each other. It shows how much potential of creativity this type of layout holds.

The class named StackPane of the package javafx.scene.layout represents the StackPane. This class contains a single property named alignment. This property represents the alignment of the nodes within the stack pane.

List of constructors of the StackPane class is as follows −

• StackPane() − It is the default constructor that constructs an empty StackPane layout with center alignment.

• StackPane(Node childNodes) − It creates an StackPane layout with specified children nodes and center alignment.

In addition to these, this class also provides a method named setMargin(). This method is used to set margin for the node within the stack pane.

Example

The following program is an example of the StackPane layout. In this, we are inserting a Circle, Sphere and a Text in the same order. Save this code in a file with the name StackPaneExample.java.

import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.geometry.Insets; 
import javafx.scene.Scene; 
import javafx.scene.layout.StackPane; 
import javafx.scene.paint.Color; 
import javafx.scene.shape.Circle; 
import javafx.scene.shape.Sphere;
import javafx.scene.text.Font; 
import javafx.scene.text.FontWeight; 
import javafx.scene.text.Text; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
         
public class StackPaneExample extends Application { 
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {                     
      //Drawing a Circle 
      Circle circle = new Circle(300, 135, 100); 
      circle.setFill(Color.DARKSLATEBLUE); 
      circle.setStroke(Color.BLACK);
      
      //Drawing Sphere 
      Sphere sphere = new Sphere(50); 
       
      //Creating a text 
      Text text = new Text("Hello how are you"); 
      
      //Setting the font of the text 
      text.setFont(Font.font(null, FontWeight.BOLD, 15));     
      
      //Setting the color of the text 
      text.setFill(Color.CRIMSON); 
      
      //setting the position of the text 
      text.setX(20); 
      text.setY(50);       
       
      //Creating a Stackpane 
      StackPane stackPane = new StackPane(); 
      
      //Setting the margin for the circle 
      stackPane.setMargin(circle, new Insets(50, 50, 50, 50));       
      
      //Adding all the nodes to the pane 
      stackPane.getChildren().addAll(circle, sphere, text); 
        
      //Creating a scene object 
      Scene scene = new Scene(stackPane, 400, 300);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Stack Pane Example"); 
         
      //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 StackPaneExample.java 
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls StackPaneExample

Output

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