Spring Layout

[vzapponi]

Why spring layout is departed from properties window?

[Eric Clayberg]

The current 7.x SpringLayout design does not expose any properties. All constraints are set up and maintained automatically in the design view.

One of the complaints we always received about SpringLayout was that it was too difficult to use. It required too much intricate knowledge of how the layout itself worked and the relationships between widgets. Our earlier SL design exposed the full power of SL, but made it almost impossible for new users to use or get right. With the 7.x release we reexamined the entire process and decided to greatly simplify it based on work we did with GroupLayout. If you actually sit down with a blank slate and try to lay out a new form, the new usage model is much easier and much, much faster. That said, it probably seems a bit barren to any former SL power users. In the near future, we will be adding back some power user features like manual control over the constraint properties and independent control over the sides of each widget. The automatic positioning and widget attachments that we have in place now will remain.

Note that v6.9.5 and v7.4.0 are both designed to be installed and used simultaneously, so you can continue to use v6.9.5 for any SL based layouts until we add in some power user features to v7.x.

[Shlomi]

Hi Eric,

Most of our panels are using SL.
With the new version (8) it is really hard to work with it, nearly impossible to edit existing panels.

Does your suggestion to use version 6.9.5 alongside version 8 still hold for this case?
If so, how can I obtain a copy of version 6.9.5 for eclipse 3.5 for the time being, until new version will make working with SL possible?

Thanks,
Shlomi

[Eric Clayberg]

Version 6.9.5 is no longer being built. The final 6.9.5 build for Eclipse 3.5 is available in archived update site format here.

Note that this 6.9.5 build has not been tested and is not supported in any way. Support is only provided for the 8.x builds.