posted 11 years ago
you set the frame to full screen
give your panel a preferredSize - the width you want, height can be any number
add the panel to the frame's contentPane at BorderLayout.EAST or WEST (depends on which side you want the panel)
add the desktopPanel to the frame's contentPane at BorderLayout.CENTER
basically, the panel will get the width it wants, height will be determined by screen size and
desktopPane will get what's left over