Could you, please, provide some test-case (as simple as possible)? It would be ideal to attach .java and .form files 
(saved before the last step) and then describe what edge/component should be snapped where (screenshots are welcome). 
Thank you in advance.

Created attachment 55033 [details]
Form file for examples

Created attachment 55034 [details]
Java file to go with Form

Ok..  have attached a .from and .java file and run through several of the Matisse bugs here:

Open the attached form in NB 6. (it should be placed in a packaged named "desktoptest")
It has a sub-pane; containg a label,  a label and a text field, a table, and two sets of buttons (A1-3, B1-2).
Before you touch anything note the gap between the two sets of buttons.  A1-A3 are and B1-B2 are in a column to the 
right of the table.  There is a large gap between the A buttons and the B buttons - this gap corresponds to the 
largest snap-to guideline shown by Matisse.

The right edge of the text field is aligned with the right edge of the sub-panel (Panel1).

Here are the many things that go wrong when editing this form:

1- Grab the right edge of the table.  Drag it slightly left so that it snaps to the second or third guideline from the 
buttons.  Release the mouse button and notice that it snaps right back to the first guideline from the buttons!


2- Now as a workaround move the right edge of the table far enough away from the buttons that now snap-to guide is 
shown.  It stays put when you release the mouse.  Then, select all of the buttons (As + Bs) as a group and drag them 
so that they drop on the thrid snap-to guide from the table edge.  Release the mouse.  Notice that the buttons snap to 
the correct position from the table BUT the gap between the A buttons and the B buttons has been removed!!  Can you 
feel the frustration? :-)

3 - Reset to the original form state.  Grab the edge of the sub panel and drag it to the right so that it snaps to the 
table's right edge, release the mouse.  The text field will also be moved - that's ok because it was aligned with the 
panel edge to begin with.  Now move the sub panel edge back to where it was.  The text field edge remains aligned with 
the table - ok not that big of a deal, it is now stuck to the table instead of the panel.  But now grab the right edge 
of the text field and line it back up with the right edge of the sub-panel. Release the mouse and notice that the 
right edge of the table has snapped up agains the buttons!!  Argh!

4 - Grab a new text filed from the palette and drop it between the existing text field and the table, exactly centered 
under the existing text field.  You should have a smaller JTextField centered under the first oine, between it and the 
table.  Now grab the right edge of the new text field and drop it when it snaps to the right edge of the text field 
above.  Instead of snapping to the edge of the text field above like the guideline was showing it snaps to the right 
edge of the form!!

I probably could find more.. but that should be enough for now.  There are clearly cases where Matisse is showing that 
it will do one thing and then doing something completely different when you "commit" (release the mouse).

Thanks

Thank you very much for your precise description. I was able to reproduce all descibed problems.

Just wondering if any progress is being made on this issue.   It is related to other issues I am having with the form
designer.  It seems that more often than not when I'm trying to align components, the form designer is moving the other
components (not the one I am resizing or moving)to radically different positions when I release the mouse.

Perhaps if this bug can't be fixed directly there could be some way to lock-down the other components during an
operation so the form designer is explicitly told that it is NOT ok to move anything other than the component being
manipulated by the user.

I spend most of my days trying to fix UIs mangled by the form designer when I attempt to add or reposition a component.
 You try to nudge one thing into the correct position and then everything pops out of place all over the form.  That is
the typical experience.  Often resulting in the form growing to a huge size because most of the components are displaced
to the right or downward and it is difficult to pull it back to the correct size because you must reposition most of
those components by hand before it will let you shrink the size of the form back to what it should be.

This issue is not just one fix, it requires more work, so it will take time. We may also consider something like 
the "lock" mode you suggested. We keep this report opened since you provided a nice reproducible test case. Thanks for 
that.

In a shorter time we'd like to put together some tips and tricks that can make the layout design easier. For example, 
sometimes when the layout becomes complicated and it is hard to change it often helps to recreate it - and it is 
relatively easy, see http://www.netbeans.org/servlets/ReadMsg?listName=nbusers&msgNo=118814

I have quite the same problem. It is a big lost of time dealing with those GUI builder problems...

When can we except a solution ?

I tried the tricks http://www.netbeans.org/servlets/ReadMsg?listName=nbusers&msgNo=118814
...but if everythime I would like to move something I have to "rebuild" the form...we have to be serious, this is 
quite usuable... 

Now I am using 6.7.1 and problems are still there...

When can we except a solution ?
6.8 ?

I have the same problem from the begining...I am using Netbeans since version 6.0. 

Everytime there is a new realease I hope the bug is fixed but it is always there.  This is a major issue and I don't 
understand why there is no improvement and visible efforts (release changes) for fix it. 

Design form is extremely important... 

I am working on a big ERP project (at the end, hundreds of complex forms) and it is at lot of time wasted in dealing 
with those bugs. 

It will be great to have a "lock component" feature or disabling auto-aligment 

Please help... 

Other people are reporting those problems from years now... 

It will be very nice to have a reaction of a Netbeans developper about that major issue.  And to know what they are 
doing to fix that problem. 

I continue to find it sad that such an extremely powerful, amazingly diverse development system doesn't come up with a 
simple and reliable way to do layout. 

The link to the tips and tricks which are supposed to help to workaround this issue no longer works:

http://www.netbeans.org/servlets/ReadMsg?listName=nbusers&msgNo=118814

Can someone from the NetBeans team provide an updated link? Adding the now unaccessible content to the wiki seems a better idea.

> Can someone from the NetBeans team provide an updated link?

It seems that the format of links to mailing list archives changed :-(. The correct link is below (I hope - I cannot verify where the original link pointed to).

http://netbeans.org/projects/www/lists/nbusers/archive/2008-06/message/1056

Fixed in 7.1 - Free Design improvements

Product Version: NetBeans IDE Dev (Build 201110030601)
Java: 1.7.0; Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM 21.0-b17
System: Linux version 2.6.38-11-generic running on i386; UTF-8; en_US (nb)