Time for action – using layouts

Now that the ClockWidget has been created, multiple instances can be added into the ClockView.

1. Modify the createPartControl method in the ClockView class to create three ClockWidget instances, and assign them to local variables:

   final ClockWidget clock1 = new ClockWidget(parent, SWT.NONE);
   final ClockWidget clock2 = new ClockWidget(parent, SWT.NONE);
   final ClockWidget clock3 = new ClockWidget(parent, SWT.NONE);

2. Run the target Eclipse instance, and show the Clock View. Three clocks will be shown, counting in seconds:

   

3. At the start of the ClockView class's createPartControl method, create a new RowLayout with SWT.HORIZONTAL, and then set it as the layout on the parent Composite:

   public void createPartControl(Composite parent) {
     RowLayout layout = new RowLayout(SWT.HORIZONTAL);
     parent.setLayout(layout);

4. Run the code again now, and the clocks will be in a horizontal row:

   

5. Resize the view; the clocks will flow into different rows:

   

   Note

   The RowLayout has a number of fields...