>Thanks Terry - I will give that a try. I'm trying to learn about all the quirks in VFP 9, as relates to combos in grids. So first I want to get a combo working perfectly outside a grid, then move it to a column in my grid. Then compare how the combo works - inside vs outside the grid... So far, even with VFP 9, I cannot get the combo's dropdown list to remain open (when combo is in a grid).

KEYBOARD '{F4}' PLAIN

in the combo's SgotFocus() event

will cause it to open auto when you focus on it

>It closes as soon as I type any character. OTOH, outside of a grid, the combo stays dropped down as I type characters - performing incremental searches (as one would expect it to).

You sure you've got the combo' Style prop. set as a drop-down list or combo? If you want to be able to type in it then set it to 0.

FYI, I don't know if you know but "combo" stands for "Combination text box-drop-down list" (not surf & turf), for use when, say, you have a list of name titles, e.g. Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, and you want to enter something unusual, like "Capt", "Rev" or "WCom" (Wing Commander).