SNIP
>I have not sincerely understood what you want to do, but:
>

>
>    IF loCurrentControl.BACKCOLOR = THISFORM.gridbackcolor
>          .Columns(lnColumn).Sparse = .t.
>*     loCurrentControl.BACKCOLOR = THISFORM.HIGHLIGHTBACKCOLOR	&& !! this is useless
>   ELSE
>       .COLUMNS(lnColumn).SPARSE = .F.
>       llsethighlight = .T.   && change the highlightstyle on the grid
>   ENDIF
> ELSE
>     .Columns(lnColumn).Sparse = .t.
> *    loCurrentControl.BACKCOLOR = THISFORM.HIGHLIGHTBACKCOLOR       && !! this is useless
>  ENDIF
>
>

Thank you Fabio. I have tried that. However, the effect is that the cells in the columns with a special backcolor do show their backcolor as they should, but the other columns are not highlighted or emulating the highlight. Their backcolor is the default grid backcolor (white) and not emulating the highlight when the row with no special dynamicbackcolor in that column is the current row. Also, as in my earlier problem, when I click on different rows in the grid and say row 1 has a special backcolor in column2, but row 2 does not, then the data shifts left/right when the mouse is clicked between the two rows. This has been my problem all along. When I get the highlight/backcolor working as I need it to then I have to toggle sparse on/off to do it and toggling sparse on/off causes the data margin to shift.