GridBagLayout: JInternalFrames and internal JDesktopPanes?

Question

What I want:
A JToolbar a the top of my main JFrame and a JPanel (status bar) at the bottom of my frame that stretches/shrinks with the screen.
AND JInternalFrames in the center area (the number is arbitrary and the position is -- for now -- arbitrary). These frames are NOT effected by any resizing of the main JFrame window.
My problem:
With all the components added to the JFrame, the JToolbar and JPanel are placed fine, but the JInternalFrames won't allow me to resize them -- i.e., when I drag the iframe(s) to a new size, not only do they revert back to the original size, but sometimes the frame will reposition itself within the frame altogether!! And even sometimes a graphic glitch will occur and suddenly two instances of my iframe(s) will appear (only one will actually be functional)! Plus, when I try to iconify one of the iframes, its desktopicon moves to the absolute bottom of the JFrame, and shifts my JPanel on top of it!
I tried adding an internal JPanel to try to isolate my inner iframes from the nasty GB's effects and to try to make an, but it seems like the parent GridBagLayout still had an effect on the JPanel's contents.
Is there a way to:
1) allow the JInternalFrames to freely resize, and
2) place an "internal JDesktopPane" so that when I iconify iframes, the desktopIcon appears above my JPanel status bar?
Thank you for any help!
Paul

Answer 1

Here is some code (I don't recommend using GridBagLayout's, it's often much easier and flexible to use nested containers).
JDesktopPane desktopPane = new JDesktopPane();
JPanel toolbarContainer = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
toolbarContainer.add(myToolBar, BorderLayout.NORTH);
toolbarContainer.add(desktopPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JPanel main = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
main.add(toolbarContainer, BorderLayout.CENTER);
main.add(myStatusBar, BorderLayout.SOUTH);