Returns the amount of space to place between the component and specified edge of its parent.

  Returns the amount of space to place between the component and specified
edge of its parent.
Returns: the amount of space to place between the component and specified edge
Parameters:
- component - the JComponent being positioned
- position - the position component is being placed relative to its parent; one of SwingConstants.NORTH, SwingConstants.SOUTH, SwingConstants.EAST or SwingConstants.WEST
- parent - the parent of component; this may differ from the actual parent and may be null
Throws:
- IllegalArgumentException - if position is not one of SwingConstants.NORTH, SwingConstants.SOUTH, SwingConstants.EAST or SwingConstants.WEST

  Returns the shared instance of LayoutStyle.

  Returns the shared instance of LayoutStyle. If an instance
has not been specified in setInstance, this will return
the LayoutStyle from the current LookAndFeel.
Returns: the shared instance of LayoutStyle
See Also: LookAndFeel.getLayoutStyle(),

  Returns the amount of space to use between two components.

  Returns the amount of space to use between two components. The return value indicates the distance to place component2 relative to component1. For example, the following returns the amount of space to place between component2 and component1 when component2 is placed vertically above component1:

   int gap = getPreferredGap(component1, component2,
                             ComponentPlacement.RELATED,
                             SwingConstants.NORTH, parent);
 

The type parameter indicates the relation between the two components. If the two components will be contained in the same parent and are showing similar logically related items, use RELATED. If the two components will be contained in the same parent but show logically unrelated items use UNRELATED. Some look and feels may not distinguish between the RELATED and UNRELATED types.

The return value is not intended to take into account the current size and position of component2 or component1. The return value may take into consideration various properties of the components. For example, the space may vary based on font size, or the preferred size of the component.
Returns: the amount of space to place between the two components
Parameters:
- component1 - the JComponent component2 is being placed relative to
- component2 - the JComponent being placed
- position - the position component2 is being placed relative to component1; one of SwingConstants.NORTH, SwingConstants.SOUTH, SwingConstants.EAST or SwingConstants.WEST
- type - how the two components are being placed
- parent - the parent of component2; this may differ from the actual parent and it may be null
Throws:
- NullPointerException - if component1, component2 or type is null
- IllegalArgumentException - if position is not one of SwingConstants.NORTH, SwingConstants.SOUTH, SwingConstants.EAST or SwingConstants.WEST
Since: 1.6
See Also: LookAndFeel.getLayoutStyle(),

  Sets the shared instance of LayoutStyle.

  Sets the shared instance of LayoutStyle. Specifying
null results in using the LayoutStyle from
the current LookAndFeel.
Parameters:
- style - the LayoutStyle, or null
See Also: LayoutStyle.getInstance(),