Insert blank item in j2me form

Question

Is there any way to append a blank stringItem in form? I want to show a gauge in a form but it should be center aligned. There is no way to do this I think unless there are a few items before the gauge. So I was thinking to add a few null stringItems but they dont work. This is my code so far.

loadingDialog = new javax.microedition.lcdui.Form("Please Wait");
        Gauge gau = new Gauge("\nPlease wait.", false, Gauge.INDEFINITE,
                Gauge.CONTINUOUS_RUNNING);
        gau.setPreferredSize(230,80);
        gau.setLayout(Item.LAYOUT_BOTTOM);
        //Displayable SizeCanvas = new MyCanvas();
        StringItem st = new StringItem(" ", " ");
        loadingDialog.append(st);
        loadingDialog.append(gau);
        parentMidlet.displays.setCurrent(loadingDialog);

Answer 1

There is a special layout directive to center an item, called unsurprisingly, LAYOUT_CENTER

Using the code snippet you gave, this directive could be set like,

gau.setLayout(Item.LAYOUT_BOTTOM | Item.LAYOUT_CENTER);

Or, if you want to have it set in a separate statement,

gau.setLayout(gau.getLayout() | Item.LAYOUT_CENTER);

If your device is MIDP 2.0, this directive is not mandated to follow (although one can expect a device of reasonable quality to support it). In MIDP 2.1 device, it is mandated to be supported by explicit requirement in the specification.

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By the way, for more advanced purposes of item alignment, there is a dedicated lcdui object called Spacer:

A blank, non-interactive item that has a settable minimum size. The minimum width is useful for allocating flexible amounts of space between Items within the same row of a Form. The minimum height is useful for enforcing a particular minimum height of a row. The application can set the minimum width or height to any non-negative value. The implementation may enforce implementation-defined maximum values for the minimum width and height...

...Spacer's primary purpose is to position other item...