JSeparator

The JSeparator widget is a simple little thing that draws a line to separate widgets in a Layout. It can be instantiated with a single argument to establish which way the line is to be drawn.

SwingConstants.VERTICAL - Draws the Separator Vertically.
SwingConstants.HORIZONTAL - Draws the Separator Horizontally.

To save time, I've quickly introduced these to the previous example. Let's look at snippets of code and the outcome. This first code & picture is from the previous example without the Separators.

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        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(storyArea);
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(20,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(sexPanel);
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(20,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(cbPanel);
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));

In this version we put in separators between the JPanels at Lines 86 & 90.

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        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(storyArea);
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(new JSeparator(SwingConstants.VERTICAL));
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(sexPanel);
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(new JSeparator(SwingConstants.VERTICAL));
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));
        bottomPanel.add(cbPanel);
        bottomPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10,0)));

As you can see, all the JSeparator does is to make a line that suits the look and feel of the application to split up the GUI into sections.
This is especially useful for the JMenu which we will look at next.