Basic Operations

Adding components to containers Moving and duplicating components Setting resize weights
Adding rows and columns Moving rows or columns Setting row height and column width
Applying containers to components Placing components Setting span width and span height
Deleting components Selecting grid cells Switching components
Deleting rows and columns Setting anchors Switching rows or columns
Linking rows or columns Setting cell insets Traversing the container hierarchy

This section sums up basic operations on the design grid.

First of all, make use of the different context menus (right-click a component or a grid cell). Contents of context menus change dependent on the selection respective the clicked component and the displayed container.
Some context menus

Selecting grid cells    Top of page

To select a grid cell, click inside. Select additional cells with Ctrl-Click or create contiguous selections with Shift-Click.
 
Single selection Multiple selection Contiguous selection
Select all components of the design grid with Ctrl-A. Select all grid cells with Ctrl+Shift-A.
You can move the selection using the arrow keys and expand the selection with Shift-Arrow_Key.

Adding rows and columns    Top of page

You have three options:
Use the grid's context menu.
 
Select a grid cell and press Ctrl-CursorKey
 
Ctrl-CursorUp inserts a row before the selected one.
Ctrl-CursorDown inserts a row after the selected one.
Ctrl-CursorLeft inserts a column before the selected one.
Ctrl-CursorRight inserts a column after the selected one.
Duplicate grid lines with Alt-Drag.
 

Deleting rows and columns    Top of page

From the grid's context menu select either 'Delete clicked Row/Column' or 'Delete selected Rows/Columns'.
 
If the row respective column doesn't contain any components, you can also select the entire row/column and press Backspace or Del.

Setting row height and column width    Top of page

You have three options:
Select a grid cell and set its width/height numerically in the Cell panel.
 
With one ore more grid cells selected, press
 
W+Value to change column Width. Value must be an integer, to change column width relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
H+Value to change row Height. Value must be an integer, to change row height relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
  RADi gives you feedback about what you are doing:
 
0 (zero) to set both column width and row height to component-relative values.
Drag grid lines.
 

Linking rows or columns    Top of page

You have three options:
With at least one cell selected, use the combo boxes of the Cell Panel.
 
With at least two different rows respective columns selected, use the grid's context menu.
 
After entering W or H (the direct-input commands for column width respective row height, see above), you can also click a grid cell to which the currently selected cell(s) will be linked.

Placing components    Top of page

Drag the component's icon from the component palette to the desired grid cell.
The component palette
If you want to insert several components of the same kind, you can do this with Ctrl-Shift-Click inside an empty grid cell.

Adding components to containers    Top of page

Drag the component's icon from the component palette to the container's grid cell.
Add JList to JTabbedPane

Applying containers to components    Top of page

Drag the container's icon from the component palette to the component's grid cell.
Apply JScrollPane to ImageIcon

Moving and duplicating components    Top of page

You can move a component with the mouse from one grid cell to another.
 
To duplicate the component instead of moving it, additionally press Alt.
 
Use Copy and Paste respective Cut and Paste to duplicate/move components to another container or another layout.

Moving rows or columns    Top of page

If the editor currently displays a panel, a folder panel or an internal frame, it also displays column and row headers. You can move rows or columns by dragging the header.
 
Start of drag ...   ... in drag ...
 
... in drag ...   ... drag complete

Switching components    Top of page

With exactly two components selected, you can switch both components.

Switching rows or columns    Top of page

With two different rows or columns selected, you can switch rows respective columns.

Deleting components    Top of page

Select the components you wish to delete and press Backspace or Del. Or use the context menu.

Setting span width and span height    Top of page

You have three options:
With one ore more components selected, set span width/height numerically in the Cell Component panel.
 
With one component selected, you can control span width and height simultaneously by dragging the span icon.
 
Span width/height = 1 In drag Span width/height = 2
With one ore more components selected, press
 
S+W+Value to change Span Width. Value must be an integer, to change span width relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
S+H+Value to change Span Height. Value must be an integer, to change span height relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
  RADi gives you feedback about what you are doing:
 

Setting anchors    Top of page

You have three options:
With one component selected, click the anchor icons.
 
With one ore more components selected, select/deselect anchors in the Cell Component panel.
 
With one ore more components selected, press
 
Alt-T to select/deselect the Top anchor.
Alt-L to select/deselect the Left anchor.
Alt-B to select/deselect the Bottom anchor.
Alt-R to select/deselect the Right anchor.

Setting cell insets    Top of page

You have two options:
With one ore more components selected, set insets in the Cell Component panel. (Insets are in top-left-bottom-right order)
 
With one ore more components selected, press
 
T+Value to set Top insets.
L+Value to set Left insets.
B+Value to set Bottom insets.
R+Value to set Right insets.
  Value must be an integer, to change insets relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
You can use any combination of T/L/B/R.
  RADi gives you feedback about what you are doing:
 

Setting resize weights    Top of page

You have two options:
With one ore more grid cells selected, set weights in the Cell panel.
 
With one ore more grid cells selected, press
 
C+W+Value to adjust Column Weights. Value must be an integer, to change column weights relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
R+W+Value to adjust Row Weights. Value must be an integer, to change row weights relative to the current setting, precede value with plus (+) or minus (-).
  RADi gives you feedback about what you are doing:
 

Traversing the container hierarchy    Top of page

To display a container's child components so they are selectable, you have four options:
Double-click the container (or press Enter while the mouse cursor is above the container).
Select one of the container's child components in the Projects panel.
 
Use the Navigator (press F9). By clicking one of the container icons, you switch to this container's hierarchy level.
 
Select a container from the container popup.
 

Additionally you can use the following toolbar buttons:
Return to top hierarchy level.
Step up one hierarchy level.
Switch back to the last displayed container.