How do I make a Grid layout?

Question

Here should be an easy question for someone who knows Java, but for a newbee like me, it is difficult.
I'm using a tutorial with Eclipse as my platform. Wherever possible I'm using the visual editor to make my code.
The tutorial calls for Grid layout with 3 rows and 1 column. Eclipse says to right click on the graphic element and use Customize layout. This works, but Customize layout tells me "No layout options to customize on the current selection".
My question is: what do I need to add (manually?), in order to get the Grid layout?
Thanks,
Ilan
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class FirstAppl extends JFrame {
     public static final long serialVersionUID = 1;     // needed for compiler
     public FirstAppl() {
          super();
          initialize();
      * This method initializes this
     private void initialize() {
        this.setSize(new java.awt.Dimension(171,100));
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        this.setTitle("First Swing Application");
        this.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() {
             public void windowClosing(java.awt.event.WindowEvent e) {
                  System.exit(0);
      * @param args
     public static void main(String[] args) {
          FirstAppl frame = new FirstAppl();
        frame.show();
}  //  @jve:decl-index=0:visual-constraint="10,10"

Answer 1

First of all, thanks for the reply, which did indeed help.
I pushed on, trying my best to use the visual editor if possible.
I failed in all attempts to drop the jButtons onto the jFrame.
The only way I could get it to work was to drop the jButtons onto the white area which wasn't being used. Then at least I could add an event via the visual editor, which was good. I don't know if this is possible, but if I could add a "ContentPane", then I could drop the buttons onto it. I see again and again that I need "getContentPane()". Is this possible, or do I have to wait until I know Java better to answer this one?
Thanks,
Ilan
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
public class FirstAppl extends JFrame {
     public static final long serialVersionUID = 1;     // needed for compiler
     private JButton jButtonTop = null;  //  @jve:decl-index=0:visual-constraint="59,180"
     private JButton jButtonBottom = null;  //  @jve:decl-index=0:visual-constraint="41,224"
     public FirstAppl() {
          super();
          initialize();
      * This method initializes this
     private void initialize() {
        this.setSize(new java.awt.Dimension(180,131));
        this.getContentPane().setLayout(new GridLayout(3,1));
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        this.setTitle("First Swing Application");
        this.getContentPane().add(new JLabel("Swing components act like AWT"));
        this.getContentPane().add(getJButtonTop());
        this.getContentPane().add(getJButtonBottom());
        this.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() {
             public void windowClosing(java.awt.event.WindowEvent e) {
                  System.exit(0);
      * This method initializes jButtonTop     
      * @return javax.swing.JButton     
     private JButton getJButtonTop() {
          if (jButtonTop == null) {
               jButtonTop = new JButton();
               jButtonTop.setText("Top");
               jButtonTop.addActionListener(new java.awt.event.ActionListener() {
                    public void actionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent e) {
                         System.out.println("top");
          return jButtonTop;
      * This method initializes jButtonBottom     
      * @return javax.swing.JButton     
     private JButton getJButtonBottom() {
          if (jButtonBottom == null) {
               jButtonBottom = new JButton();
               jButtonBottom.setText("Bottom");
               jButtonBottom.setSize(new java.awt.Dimension(75,26));
               jButtonBottom.addActionListener(new java.awt.event.ActionListener() {
                    public void actionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent e) {
                         System.out.println("bottom");
          return jButtonBottom;
      * @param args
     public static void main(String[] args) {
          FirstAppl frame = new FirstAppl();
        frame.show();
}  //  @jve:decl-index=0:visual-constraint="10,10"