>Maybe the field values (in the local grid) do not match exactly any of the defined values in the combo -trailing spaces, for instance, could prevent them from matching-
The combo boxes are set to dropdown lists only, so no values can be manually entered. Aside from the values in the list, only a blank can exist on the local view.

The first click behavior (where it displays the last value chosen without dropping down the list) is also exhibited for fields with values, not just blank ones. For example, upon entering the tab, the data displays "Exceeds" which is really what is on the local view for the current record. But if I click on the combo box, the value "Meets" appears instead of the list, which was what I chose for the last record in the view. Clicking again displays the whole list (Exceeds, Meets, Below).

Also what else is strange is the combobox.value display correctly in the activate of the tab. Furthermore it only happens on the first combo box I select out of the 3 on the page frame. It seems to be tied to buffering somehow.

So the flow is tab 1 grid of local view -> tab 2 combo box -> pick a combo box value, tableupdate the view, form buffermode = 2 -> back to tab 1, pick another record in the grid -> tab 2 combo box click and previous value appears, click again and list drops down. Strange!!!! Activate of tab 2 shows combobox value correctly every time.