Main Features

• Select GroupLayout from the Swing Layouts or SWT Layouts palette
• Graphical feedback is provided for all widget size and position operations

Graphical Feedback

• Position and size widgets using GroupLayout constraints

• Align widgets horizontally and vertically

• Indent widgets intelligently

• Insert widgets intelligently

• Align widgets along text baselines

• Align widgets to margins

• Anchor widgets to the left, right or both sides

• Anchor widgets to the top, bottom or both sides

• Set widget anchoring and resizing via context menu

• Align and center widgets using toolbar

• Set alignment, size and spacing using floating layout assistant

Why is WindowBuilder Better than Matisse?

• WindowBuilder is a native Eclipse plugin from the ground up and will run in any Eclipse-based IDE; Matisse is not and can not

• WindowBuilder supports all Swing layout managers; Matisse only supports a subset of Swing layout managers (no SpringLayout, for example)

• WindowBuilder supports the popular third-party JGoodies FormLayout; Matisse does not

• WindowBuilder is a true bi-directional code generating tool that allows editing of generated code; Matisse does not allow generated code to be edited

• WindowBuilder reads and writes multiple coding styles (JBuilder, NetBeans, VA Java, etc.); Matisse does not read any style (even its own) and only writes its own style

• WindowBuilder supports refactoring generated code; Matisse does not allow generated code to be edited in any way

• WindowBuilder can reverse engineer hand-written code using any Swing layout manager; Matisse can not reverse engineer any code (even its own)

• WindowBuilder does not require a separate XML-based meta-data file to maintain GUI data; Matisse requires a separate file due to its limited parsing abilities

• WindowBuilder supports visual menu creation and editing; Matisse does not (menus can only be created in the component tree)

• WindowBuilder allows on-the-fly language switching and direct editing using multiple locales; Matisse does not

• WindowBuilder supports morphing one component type into another; Matisse does not

• WindowBuilder supports WYSIWYG GridBagLayout editing; Matisse uses a separate and less convenient GridBagLayout customizer

• WindowBuilder fully supports both Swing and SWT; Matisse only partially supports Swing (no support for SpringLayout, for example)