[Albert]

Well personally I always learn by example and so I found a pretty good example here:

Code:

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;

class SplitPane
		extends 	JFrame
{
	private		JSplitPane	splitPaneV;
	private		JSplitPane	splitPaneH;
	private		JPanel		panel1;
	private		JPanel		panel2;
	private		JPanel		panel3;


	public SplitPane()
	{
		setTitle( "Split Pane Application" );
		setBackground( Color.gray );

		JPanel topPanel = new JPanel();
		topPanel.setLayout( new BorderLayout() );
		getContentPane().add( topPanel );

		// Create the panels
		createPanel1();
		createPanel2();
		createPanel3();

		// Create a splitter pane
		splitPaneV = new JSplitPane( JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT );
		topPanel.add( splitPaneV, BorderLayout.CENTER );

		splitPaneH = new JSplitPane( JSplitPane.HORIZONTAL_SPLIT );
		splitPaneH.setLeftComponent( panel1 );
		splitPaneH.setRightComponent( panel2 );

		splitPaneV.setLeftComponent( splitPaneH );
		splitPaneV.setRightComponent( panel3 );
}

	public void createPanel1()
	{
		panel1 = new JPanel();
		panel1.setLayout( new BorderLayout() );

		// Add some buttons
		panel1.add( new JButton( "North" ), BorderLayout.NORTH );
		panel1.add( new JButton( "South" ), BorderLayout.SOUTH );
		panel1.add( new JButton( "East" ), BorderLayout.EAST );
		panel1.add( new JButton( "West" ), BorderLayout.WEST );
		panel1.add( new JButton( "Center" ), BorderLayout.CENTER );

	}

	public void createPanel2()
	{
		panel2 = new JPanel();
		panel2.setLayout( new FlowLayout() );

		panel2.add( new JButton( "Button 1" ) );
		panel2.add( new JButton( "Button 2" ) );
		panel2.add( new JButton( "Button 3" ) );
	}

	public void createPanel3()
	{
		panel3 = new JPanel();
		panel3.setLayout( new BorderLayout() );
        panel3.setPreferredSize( new Dimension( 400, 100 ) );
        panel3.setMinimumSize( new Dimension( 100, 50 ) );
        
		panel3.add( new JLabel( "Notes:" ), BorderLayout.NORTH );
		panel3.add( new JTextArea(), BorderLayout.CENTER );
	}

	public static void main( String args[] )
	{
		// Create an instance of the test application
		SplitPane mainFrame	= new SplitPane();
		mainFrame.pack();
		mainFrame.setVisible( true );
	}
}

example

Greetings
Albert