GridBagLayout and multiple JPanel's on a single JFrame

[Cybex]

Hi!

I have a form (frame) with a few panels in JTabbedPane on it. Frame has a BorderLayout as tabbed pane will occupy whole form. But each panel should have GridBagLayout as it will contain labels, text fields and text areas.
Here is the current code I use to set up layouts on all panels

        // adds a component to a panel
	private void addComponent(JPanel panel, Component component, int row, int column, int width, int height, GridBagLayout gbl, GridBagConstraints gbc)
		{
		gbc.gridx = column;
		gbc.gridy = row;
		gbc.gridwidth = width;
		gbc.gridheight = height;
		gbl.setConstraints(component, gbc);
		panel.add(component);		
		}
	
	private void addPanel1Components()
		{
		GridBagLayout gbl = new GridBagLayout();
		GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
		pSoft.setLayout(gbl);
		
		addComponent(Panel1, lblName, 0, 0, 1, 2, gbl, gbc);
                ...
                // It is followed by other 10+ similar calls for all of the components to be placed on this panel
		}

The question is should I create one global (for the current frame that is) GridBagLayout variable and use it with "new GridBagLayout()" operator for all panels or use the current approach?
As having a procedure with 8 parameters is kind of not good looking code and probably not the optimal one either.

NOTE: this question is also posted here:
forums.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5415147

NOTE: ANSWERED

[Fubarable]

Thanks for the link. I have replied in the Sun forum.

[hardwired]

The question is should I create one global (for the current frame that is) GridBagLayout variable and use it with "new GridBagLayout()" operator for all panels or use the current approach?
As having a procedure with 8 parameters is kind of not good looking code and probably not the optimal one either.
It' really up to you.
Some considerations:
1 — if it works and you are satisfied with it, it's okay
2 — if others will have to read/edit your code, will it be easy enough for them to read and understand? Also, how will it look and read if you come back to it in a few months?
3 — if you will want to query and alter any of these layouts in the future you will want a separate instance of GridBagLayout for each container. You can access (and cast) the layout from the container.
4 — you can use a single instance of both GridBagLayout and GridBagConstraints for everything if you like.

[Cybex]

Thanks for advices!

I I'll stick to single layout for each panel variant. Will try to rewrite the code a bit for it so it would not be too bulky.

[Fubarable]

Also seriously look at MigLayout which Google can help you find. It's a powerful and easier alternative to GridBagLayout.

[Cybex]

Thanks for the info!
Looks like one more version of a table layout at least after a quick look. Will check it out, cause GridBagLayout is kind of not worth the effort.