JFrame f = new JFrame("grid test");
        f.setLayout(new GridLayout());
        JLabel l = new JLabel();
        Border border = LineBorder.createGrayLineBorder();
        l.setBorder(border);



        f.setSize(500,500);
        f.setVisible(true);
        boolean gray = true;
        for (int n = 0; n < 500; n+=10)
        {
            f.add(l);
            System.out.println("adding label and the size is : " + l.getSize());
            if(gray){l.setBackground(Color.gray); gray = false;}
            else{gray = true;}
            l.repaint();
        } // end for test
        //f.validate();