Coping with GridBagLayout produced by Netbeans and modifying generated code to get what I couldn't make Netbeans give me - netbeans

Question

I have no question, just sharing 3 days of frustration and ultimate success.
The above is what I got from Netbeans using its GridBagLayout mode. Below is what I wanted.
I couldn't get what I wanted within a reasonable time using Netbeans, so I thought I would be able to cut, paste, and modify the generated code to make the form look like what I want.
I was right and the time spent in getting what I wanted was minimal, using the Netbeans "outline" that I started late last night.
Here's my code:
public class DoThis extends JFrame {
... (variable declarations removed)
public DoThis() {
initComponents();
}
private void initComponents() {
GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints;
setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
getContentPane().setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
pnlFileStuff = new JPanel();
pnlFileStuff.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
pnlFileStuff.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
lblRootNode = new JLabel("Root node:");
gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
pnlFileStuff.add(lblRootNode, gridBagConstraints);
txtRootNode = new JTextField("C:\\Users");
gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints.gridx = 1;
gridBagConstraints.ipadx = 520; // One key
gridBagConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.WEST;
pnlFileStuff.add(txtRootNode, gridBagConstraints);
btnBrowse = new JButton("Browse...");
gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
pnlFileStuff.add(btnBrowse, gridBagConstraints);
lblFilenamePattern = new JLabel("Filename pattern:");
gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints.gridx = 0;
gridBagConstraints.gridy = 1;
pnlFileStuff.add(lblFilenamePattern, gridBagConstraints);
txtFilenamePattern = new JTextField("*.*");
gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints.gridx = 1;
gridBagConstraints.ipadx = 250; // the other key
gridBagConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
gridBagConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.WEST;
pnlFileStuff.add(txtFilenamePattern, gridBagConstraints);
getContentPane().add(pnlFileStuff, new GridBagConstraints());
pack();
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new DoThis().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
As it turns out, I only needed to do one additional thing in Netbeans--only one of the ipadx instances labeled "key" in the code. Sort of embarrassing to admit. And I didn't have to!
Just call it a learning experience that I decided to share, for better or worse. I think some newbie might profit from this post.
"Lessons" "learned":
(1) It's hard as heck to use Netbeans in "GridBagLayout mode". It's too far from WYSIWYG and far from intutitive. (This from a guy who had never used GridBayLayout and had never read about it until several days ago.) As one link suggested by S.O. that I followed stated, "Unfortunately, GridBagLayout is infernally awkward and error-prone to use." No argument here.
(2) Spending enough time struggling with Netbeans was worth it, in that, without it, it was almost impossible to read textbooks and tutorials and get anything close to desired outcome (YMMV).
(3) The code Netbeans generates in "GridBagLayout mode" is MUCH closer to human-written code than the usual incomprehensible hundreds of lines of krazy kode (that it generates in "free design" mode), which is virtually impossible to follow, let alone cut, paste, and edit (though I've had minimal success doing so). (Never again.)
(4) The generated GridBagLayout code is reasonably easy to cut, paste, and edit to generate the desired outcome (given that it was in the ballpark to begin with, and ignoring ample frustration with its quirks).
Most importantly (for ME), I finally feel free from Netbeans and may be on the way to developing some skill at writing GUI code from scratch, something I've avoided like the plague for months!!

Answer 1

I would be remiss not to revisit this thread and state that learning how to use GridBagLayout without Netbeans GUI builder is attainable by anyone. In less than a week of learning and getting help and advice from SO, I have finally arrived at creating a GUI that (unlike that generated by Netbeans) is easily editable and extendable--because I wrote the code by hand. The GUI that I'd been using and bugging SO with questions about for months (e.g., how to keep display from flashing during execution, which led to SwingWorker and other complications) has been replaced by the one below, which I created in a night and "perfected" the next day (today):
I'm not bragging; far from it. I barely know squat. Like "perfected" means "got output, and it doesn't flash, and it's readable, but it's ugly as sin."
Just providing hope for other newbies, I hope.