JavaFX - setVisible doesn't “hide” the element

Question

In JavaFX, if I have a scene with 2 VBox elements and each VBox has multiple Label in it.
If I set the top VBox to invisible, why does the bottom VBox not move up the scene where the top VBox was ?

The VBox is invisible but I would expect the other objects to move into its place.

I am using FXML to load my controls.

Answer 1

Node.setVisible(boolean) just toggles the visibility state of a Node.

To exclude a Node from its parents layout calculations you additionally have to set its managed state, by calling Node.setManaged(false).

If you want the managed state to be updated automatically alongside the visibility, you can use a binding as @jewelsea pointed out: node.managedProperty().bind(node.visibleProperty());

Answer 2

Since it's invisible, it wont move to the top. You have to remove it with something like:

// remove
vbox.getChildren().remove(...)

Once you've removed the element you want invisible then, the other element should move to the top.

Answer 3

Instead of hiding the vbox you should remove it from the Children and if you want to show it again add the vbox again.