Problem with JTextArea wanting to resize itself

Question

First, here is a program that will create the situation in which this error occurs:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JMenu;
import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
public class Example extends JFrame
    private final String TITLE       = "Example";
    private final int    WIDTH       = 640;
    private final int    HEIGHT      = 480;
    private JMenuBar     menuBar     = new JMenuBar();
    private JMenu        modeMenu    = new JMenu( "Mode" );
    private JMenuItem    mode1       = new JMenuItem( "Mode 1" );
    private JMenuItem    mode2       = new JMenuItem( "Mode 2" );
    private JTextArea    textArea1   = new JTextArea();
    private JTextArea    textArea2   = new JTextArea();
    private JScrollPane  scrollPane1 = new JScrollPane( textArea1, JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS, JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER );
    private JScrollPane  scrollPane2 = new JScrollPane( textArea2, JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS, JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER );
    private JPanel       everything  = new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
    private JPanel       modeOptions = new JPanel();
    private int          modeInt     = 1;
    public Example ()
        setDefaultCloseOperation( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE );
        setSize( WIDTH, HEIGHT );
        setLocation( 100, 100 );
        setResizable( true );
        mode1.addActionListener( new ActionListener()
            public void actionPerformed ( ActionEvent e )
                modeInt = 1;
                updateModeOptions();
        mode2.addActionListener( new ActionListener()
            public void actionPerformed ( ActionEvent e )
                modeInt = 2;
                updateModeOptions();
        modeMenu.add( mode1 );
        modeMenu.add( mode2 );
        menuBar.add( modeMenu );
        setJMenuBar( menuBar );
        updateModeOptions();
        initializeLayout();
    private void updateModeOptions ()
        modeOptions.removeAll();
        switch ( modeInt )
            case 1:
                JLabel text = new JLabel( "Change to Mode 2 to see the text areas shrink." );
                modeOptions.add( text );
                setTitle( TITLE + " - " + "Mode 1" );
                break;
            case 2:
                JPanel temp = new JPanel();
                JLabel text = new JLabel( "Text in a JPanel, to show change in text area size." );
                temp.add( text );
                modeOptions.add( temp );
                setTitle( TITLE + " - " + "Mode 2" );
                break;
            default:
                break;
        setVisible( true );
    private void initializeLayout ()
        JPanel panel1 = new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
        JPanel panel2 = new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
        JPanel everythingCenterPanel = new JPanel();
        everything.setBorder( BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder() );
        panel1.setBorder( BorderFactory.createTitledBorder( BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder(), "Scroll Pane 1" ) );
        panel2.setBorder( BorderFactory.createTitledBorder( BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder(), "Scroll Pane 2" ) );
        everythingCenterPanel.setLayout( new BoxLayout( everythingCenterPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS ) );
        panel1.add( scrollPane1 );
        panel2.add( scrollPane2 );
        everythingCenterPanel.add( panel1 );
        everythingCenterPanel.add( modeOptions );
        everythingCenterPanel.add( panel2 );
        everything.add( everythingCenterPanel );
        add( everything );
    public static void main ( String[] args )
        new Example().setVisible( true );
}Try changing between Mode 1 and Mode 2 (via the Mode menu) to see how the text areas resize as the object between them grows and shrinks. This behavior is correct.
What is incorrect is what happens when the user enters a large amount of text into one of the text boxes (6 or 7 lines of text should be enough to create the problem) and switches between modes.
I've tried using the getSize and setSize methods of various components at various points in the program but none seem to work effectively. The closest thing I've been able to do is to keep the JTextAreas, the JScrollPanes, and the JPanels holding them to remain the same sizes, but the text still pushes the panel between the JTextAreas down (and possibly out of) the window, leaving a blank area between the edge of the JPanel containing the JScrollPane and the JPanel in the center.
The JPanels containing the JScrollPanes must be able to resize correctly as the user resizes the window, so a constant size would not work in this situation.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

What is incorrect is what happens when the user enters a large amount of text into one of the text boxes I don't notice anything happening when I add text to the text area. The scrollbars appear as is expected. The only difference for me when I switch between mode 1 and 2 is that the center panel changes in size slightly. This is because the panel is using a FlowLayout which by default has a 5 pixel vertical gap between each component. This is easily fixed by using:
JPanel temp = new JPanel( new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER, 5, 0) );I know you tested using JDK1.5 since I had to make the following change in order to get the example to work:
getContentPane().add( everything );
So maybe this is a version problem since I don't notice anything out of the ordinary other than what I already mentioned.