Returns the amount of space to use between two components. The return value indicates the distance to place
component2
relative to
component1
. For example, the following returns the amount of space to place between
component2
and
component1
when
component2
is placed vertically above
component1
:
int gap = getPreferredGap(component1, component2,
ComponentPlacement.RELATED,
SwingConstants.NORTH, parent);
The
type
parameter indicates the relation between the two components. If the two components will be contained in the same parent and are showing similar logically related items, use
RELATED
. If the two components will be contained in the same parent but show logically unrelated items use
UNRELATED
. Some look and feels may not distinguish between the
RELATED
and
UNRELATED
types.
The return value is not intended to take into account the current size and position of component2
or component1
. The return value may take into consideration various properties of the components. For example, the space may vary based on font size, or the preferred size of the component.