Custom layouts

Occasionally you may need to write your own custom Layout class. This is most appropriate when you have a complex layout that is used in many different places in your application. Note that unless you are writing a very generic layout that will be used by several Composite widgets, it is sometimes simpler and easier to calculate sizes and position children in a resize listener.

Layouts are responsible for implementing two methods:

• computeSize(...) calculates the width and height of a rectangle that encloses all of the composite's children once they have been sized and placed according to the layout algorithm. The hint parameters allow the width and/or height to be constrained. For example, a layout may choose to grow in one dimension if constrained in another.
• layout(...) positions and sizes the composite's children. A layout can choose to cache layout-related information, such as the preferred extent of each of the children. The flushCache parameter tells the Layout to flush cached data, which is necessary when other factors besides the size of the composite have changed, such as the creation or removal of children, or a change in the widget's font.

A third method, flushCache(...), can be optionally implemented to clear any cached data associated with a specific control. Often, the computeSize() method of a widget can be expensive, and so layouts can cache results to improve performance.

Further discussion of custom layouts can be found in Understanding layouts in SWT.