Class FlowPane

java.lang.Object
javafx.scene.Node
javafx.scene.Parent
javafx.scene.layout.Region
javafx.scene.layout.Pane
javafx.scene.layout.FlowPane
All Implemented Interfaces:
Styleable, EventTarget
public class FlowPane extends Pane
FlowPane lays out its children in a flow that wraps at the flowpane's boundary.

A horizontal flowpane (the default) will layout nodes in rows, wrapping at the flowpane's width. A vertical flowpane lays out nodes in columns, wrapping at the flowpane's height. If the flowpane has a border and/or padding set, the content will be flowed within those insets.

FlowPane's prefWrapLength property establishes its preferred width (for horizontal) or preferred height (for vertical). Applications should set prefWrapLength if the default value (400) doesn't suffice. Note that prefWrapLength is used only for calculating the preferred size and may not reflect the actual wrapping dimension, which tracks the actual size of the flowpane.

The alignment property controls how the rows and columns are aligned within the bounds of the flowpane and defaults to Pos.TOP_LEFT. It is also possible to control the alignment of nodes within the rows and columns by setting rowValignment for horizontal or columnHalignment for vertical.

Example of a horizontal flowpane: 

     Image images[] = { ... };
     FlowPane flow = new FlowPane();
     flow.setVgap(8);
     flow.setHgap(4);
     flow.setPrefWrapLength(300); // preferred width = 300
     for (int i = 0; i < images.length; i++) {
         flow.getChildren().add(new ImageView(image[i]);
     }

Example of a vertical flowpane: 

     FlowPane flow = new FlowPane(Orientation.VERTICAL);
     flow.setColumnHalignment(HPos.LEFT); // align labels on left
     flow.setPrefWrapLength(200); // preferred height = 200
     for (int i = 0; i < titles.size(); i++) {
         flow.getChildren().add(new Label(titles[i]);
     }

FlowPane lays out each managed child regardless of the child's visible property value; unmanaged children are ignored for all layout calculations.

FlowPane may be styled with backgrounds and borders using CSS. See Region superclass for details.

Resizable Range

A flowpane's parent will resize the flowpane within the flowpane's resizable range during layout. By default the flowpane computes this range based on its content as outlined in the tables below.

Horizontal
widthheight
minimum left/right insets plus largest of children's pref widths top/bottom insets plus height required to display all children at their preferred heights when wrapped at a specified width
preferred left/right insets plus prefWrapLength top/bottom insets plus height required to display all children at their pref heights when wrapped at a specified width
maximum Double.MAX_VALUEDouble.MAX_VALUE

Vertical
widthheight
minimum left/right insets plus width required to display all children at their preferred widths when wrapped at a specified height top/bottom insets plus largest of children's pref heights
preferred left/right insets plus width required to display all children at their pref widths when wrapped at the specified height top/bottom insets plus prefWrapLength
maximum Double.MAX_VALUEDouble.MAX_VALUE

A flowpane's unbounded maximum width and height are an indication to the parent that it may be resized beyond its preferred size to fill whatever space is assigned to it.

FlowPane provides properties for setting the size range directly. These properties default to the sentinel value Region.USE_COMPUTED_SIZE, however the application may set them to other values as needed: 

     flowPane.setMaxWidth(500);
Applications may restore the computed values by setting these properties back to Region.USE_COMPUTED_SIZE.

FlowPane does not clip its content by default, so it is possible that children's bounds may extend outside its own bounds if a child's pref size is larger than the space flowpane has to allocate for it.

Since:
JavaFX 2.0

  • Property Details

    • orientation

      public final ObjectProperty<Orientation> orientationProperty
      The orientation of this flowpane. A horizontal flowpane lays out children left to right, wrapping at the flowpane's width boundary. A vertical flowpane lays out children top to bottom, wrapping at the flowpane's height. The default is horizontal.
      See Also:

    • hgap

      public final DoubleProperty hgapProperty
      The amount of horizontal space between each node in a horizontal flowpane or the space between columns in a vertical flowpane.
      See Also:

    • vgap

      public final DoubleProperty vgapProperty
      The amount of vertical space between each node in a vertical flowpane or the space between rows in a horizontal flowpane.
      See Also:

    • prefWrapLength

      public final DoubleProperty prefWrapLengthProperty
      The preferred width where content should wrap in a horizontal flowpane or the preferred height where content should wrap in a vertical flowpane.

      This value is used only to compute the preferred size of the flowpane and may not reflect the actual width or height, which may change if the flowpane is resized to something other than its preferred size.

      Applications should initialize this value to define a reasonable span for wrapping the content.

      See Also:

    • alignment

      public final ObjectProperty<Pos> alignmentProperty
      The overall alignment of the flowpane's content within its width and height.

      For a horizontal flowpane, each row will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value, and the rows will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value.

      For a vertical flowpane, each column will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value, and the columns will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value.

      See Also:

    • columnHalignment

      public final ObjectProperty<HPos> columnHalignmentProperty
      The horizontal alignment of nodes within each column of a vertical flowpane. The property is ignored for horizontal flowpanes.
      See Also:

    • rowValignment

      public final ObjectProperty<VPos> rowValignmentProperty
      The vertical alignment of nodes within each row of a horizontal flowpane. If this property is set to VPos.BASELINE, then the flowpane will always resize children to their preferred heights, rather than expanding heights to fill the row height. The property is ignored for vertical flowpanes.
      See Also:

  • Constructor Details

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane()
      Creates a horizontal FlowPane layout with hgap/vgap = 0.

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(Orientation orientation)
      Creates a FlowPane layout with the specified orientation and hgap/vgap = 0.
      Parameters:
      orientation - the direction the tiles should flow & wrap

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(double hgap, double vgap)
      Creates a horizontal FlowPane layout with the specified hgap/vgap.
      Parameters:
      hgap - the amount of horizontal space between each tile
      vgap - the amount of vertical space between each tile

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(Orientation orientation, double hgap, double vgap)
      Creates a FlowPane layout with the specified orientation and hgap/vgap.
      Parameters:
      orientation - the direction the tiles should flow & wrap
      hgap - the amount of horizontal space between each tile
      vgap - the amount of vertical space between each tile

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(Node... children)
      Creates a horizontal FlowPane layout with hgap/vgap = 0.
      Parameters:
      children - The initial set of children for this pane.
      Since:
      JavaFX 8.0

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(Orientation orientation, Node... children)
      Creates a FlowPane layout with the specified orientation and hgap/vgap = 0.
      Parameters:
      orientation - the direction the tiles should flow & wrap
      children - The initial set of children for this pane.
      Since:
      JavaFX 8.0

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(double hgap, double vgap, Node... children)
      Creates a horizontal FlowPane layout with the specified hgap/vgap.
      Parameters:
      hgap - the amount of horizontal space between each tile
      vgap - the amount of vertical space between each tile
      children - The initial set of children for this pane.
      Since:
      JavaFX 8.0

    • FlowPane

      public FlowPane(Orientation orientation, double hgap, double vgap, Node... children)
      Creates a FlowPane layout with the specified orientation and hgap/vgap.
      Parameters:
      orientation - the direction the tiles should flow & wrap
      hgap - the amount of horizontal space between each tile
      vgap - the amount of vertical space between each tile
      children - The initial set of children for this pane.
      Since:
      JavaFX 8.0

  • Method Details

    • setMargin

      public static void setMargin(Node child, Insets value)
      Sets the margin for the child when contained by a flowpane. If set, the flowpane will layout it out with the margin space around it. Setting the value to null will remove the constraint.
      Parameters:
      child - the child node of a flowpane
      value - the margin of space around the child

    • getMargin

      public static Insets getMargin(Node child)
      Returns the child's margin constraint if set.
      Parameters:
      child - the child node of a flowpane
      Returns:
      the margin for the child or null if no margin was set

    • clearConstraints

      public static void clearConstraints(Node child)
      Removes all flowpane constraints from the child node.
      Parameters:
      child - the child node

    • orientationProperty

      public final ObjectProperty<Orientation> orientationProperty()
      The orientation of this flowpane. A horizontal flowpane lays out children left to right, wrapping at the flowpane's width boundary. A vertical flowpane lays out children top to bottom, wrapping at the flowpane's height. The default is horizontal.
      Returns:
      the orientation of this flowpane
      See Also:

    • setOrientation

      public final void setOrientation(Orientation value)
      Sets the value of the orientation property.
      Property description:
      The orientation of this flowpane. A horizontal flowpane lays out children left to right, wrapping at the flowpane's width boundary. A vertical flowpane lays out children top to bottom, wrapping at the flowpane's height. The default is horizontal.
      Parameters:
      value - the value for the orientation property
      See Also:

    • getOrientation

      public final Orientation getOrientation()
      Gets the value of the orientation property.
      Property description:
      The orientation of this flowpane. A horizontal flowpane lays out children left to right, wrapping at the flowpane's width boundary. A vertical flowpane lays out children top to bottom, wrapping at the flowpane's height. The default is horizontal.
      Returns:
      the value of the orientation property
      See Also:

    • hgapProperty

      public final DoubleProperty hgapProperty()
      The amount of horizontal space between each node in a horizontal flowpane or the space between columns in a vertical flowpane.
      Returns:
      the amount of horizontal space between each node in a horizontal flowpane or the space between columns in a vertical flowpane
      See Also:

    • setHgap

      public final void setHgap(double value)
      Sets the value of the hgap property.
      Property description:
      The amount of horizontal space between each node in a horizontal flowpane or the space between columns in a vertical flowpane.
      Parameters:
      value - the value for the hgap property
      See Also:

    • getHgap

      public final double getHgap()
      Gets the value of the hgap property.
      Property description:
      The amount of horizontal space between each node in a horizontal flowpane or the space between columns in a vertical flowpane.
      Returns:
      the value of the hgap property
      See Also:

    • vgapProperty

      public final DoubleProperty vgapProperty()
      The amount of vertical space between each node in a vertical flowpane or the space between rows in a horizontal flowpane.
      Returns:
      the amount of vertical space between each node in a vertical flowpane or the space between rows in a horizontal flowpane
      See Also:

    • setVgap

      public final void setVgap(double value)
      Sets the value of the vgap property.
      Property description:
      The amount of vertical space between each node in a vertical flowpane or the space between rows in a horizontal flowpane.
      Parameters:
      value - the value for the vgap property
      See Also:

    • getVgap

      public final double getVgap()
      Gets the value of the vgap property.
      Property description:
      The amount of vertical space between each node in a vertical flowpane or the space between rows in a horizontal flowpane.
      Returns:
      the value of the vgap property
      See Also:

    • prefWrapLengthProperty

      public final DoubleProperty prefWrapLengthProperty()
      The preferred width where content should wrap in a horizontal flowpane or the preferred height where content should wrap in a vertical flowpane.

      This value is used only to compute the preferred size of the flowpane and may not reflect the actual width or height, which may change if the flowpane is resized to something other than its preferred size.

      Applications should initialize this value to define a reasonable span for wrapping the content.

      Returns:
      the preferred width where content should wrap in a horizontal flowpane or the preferred height where content should wrap in a vertical flowpane
      See Also:

    • setPrefWrapLength

      public final void setPrefWrapLength(double value)
      Sets the value of the prefWrapLength property.
      Property description:
      The preferred width where content should wrap in a horizontal flowpane or the preferred height where content should wrap in a vertical flowpane.

      This value is used only to compute the preferred size of the flowpane and may not reflect the actual width or height, which may change if the flowpane is resized to something other than its preferred size.

      Applications should initialize this value to define a reasonable span for wrapping the content.

      Parameters:
      value - the value for the prefWrapLength property
      See Also:

    • getPrefWrapLength

      public final double getPrefWrapLength()
      Gets the value of the prefWrapLength property.
      Property description:
      The preferred width where content should wrap in a horizontal flowpane or the preferred height where content should wrap in a vertical flowpane.

      This value is used only to compute the preferred size of the flowpane and may not reflect the actual width or height, which may change if the flowpane is resized to something other than its preferred size.

      Applications should initialize this value to define a reasonable span for wrapping the content.

      Returns:
      the value of the prefWrapLength property
      See Also:

    • alignmentProperty

      public final ObjectProperty<Pos> alignmentProperty()
      The overall alignment of the flowpane's content within its width and height.

      For a horizontal flowpane, each row will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value, and the rows will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value.

      For a vertical flowpane, each column will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value, and the columns will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value.

      Returns:
      the overall alignment of the flowpane's content within its width and height
      See Also:

    • setAlignment

      public final void setAlignment(Pos value)
      Sets the value of the alignment property.
      Property description:
      The overall alignment of the flowpane's content within its width and height.

      For a horizontal flowpane, each row will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value, and the rows will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value.

      For a vertical flowpane, each column will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value, and the columns will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value.

      Parameters:
      value - the value for the alignment property
      See Also:

    • getAlignment

      public final Pos getAlignment()
      Gets the value of the alignment property.
      Property description:
      The overall alignment of the flowpane's content within its width and height.

      For a horizontal flowpane, each row will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value, and the rows will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value.

      For a vertical flowpane, each column will be aligned within the flowpane's height using the alignment's vpos value, and the columns will be aligned within the flowpane's width using the alignment's hpos value.

      Returns:
      the value of the alignment property
      See Also:

    • columnHalignmentProperty

      public final ObjectProperty<HPos> columnHalignmentProperty()
      The horizontal alignment of nodes within each column of a vertical flowpane. The property is ignored for horizontal flowpanes.
      Returns:
      the horizontal alignment of nodes within each column of a vertical flowpane
      See Also:

    • setColumnHalignment

      public final void setColumnHalignment(HPos value)
      Sets the value of the columnHalignment property.
      Property description:
      The horizontal alignment of nodes within each column of a vertical flowpane. The property is ignored for horizontal flowpanes.
      Parameters:
      value - the value for the columnHalignment property
      See Also:

    • getColumnHalignment

      public final HPos getColumnHalignment()
      Gets the value of the columnHalignment property.
      Property description:
      The horizontal alignment of nodes within each column of a vertical flowpane. The property is ignored for horizontal flowpanes.
      Returns:
      the value of the columnHalignment property
      See Also:

    • rowValignmentProperty

      public final ObjectProperty<VPos> rowValignmentProperty()
      The vertical alignment of nodes within each row of a horizontal flowpane. If this property is set to VPos.BASELINE, then the flowpane will always resize children to their preferred heights, rather than expanding heights to fill the row height. The property is ignored for vertical flowpanes.
      Returns:
      the vertical alignment of nodes within each row of a horizontal flowpane
      See Also:

    • setRowValignment

      public final void setRowValignment(VPos value)
      Sets the value of the rowValignment property.
      Property description:
      The vertical alignment of nodes within each row of a horizontal flowpane. If this property is set to VPos.BASELINE, then the flowpane will always resize children to their preferred heights, rather than expanding heights to fill the row height. The property is ignored for vertical flowpanes.
      Parameters:
      value - the value for the rowValignment property
      See Also:

    • getRowValignment

      public final VPos getRowValignment()
      Gets the value of the rowValignment property.
      Property description:
      The vertical alignment of nodes within each row of a horizontal flowpane. If this property is set to VPos.BASELINE, then the flowpane will always resize children to their preferred heights, rather than expanding heights to fill the row height. The property is ignored for vertical flowpanes.
      Returns:
      the value of the rowValignment property
      See Also:

    • getClassCssMetaData

      public static List<CssMetaData<? extends Styleable, ?>> getClassCssMetaData()
      Gets the CssMetaData associated with this class, which may include the CssMetaData of its superclasses.
      Returns:
      the CssMetaData
      Since:
      JavaFX 8.0

    • getCssMetaData

      public List<CssMetaData<? extends Styleable, ?>> getCssMetaData()
      This method should delegate to Node.getClassCssMetaData() so that a Node's CssMetaData can be accessed without the need for reflection.
      Specified by:
      getCssMetaData in interface Styleable
      Overrides:
      getCssMetaData in class Region
      Returns:
      The CssMetaData associated with this node, which may include the CssMetaData of its superclasses.
      Since:
      JavaFX 8.0