I think you've hit the nail on the head. The trick is to extend the vertical lines so they terminate ABOVE the detail band instead of terminating within it (likely this will be in the header band). You may have to make the header band a couple of pixels taller to accommodate the tips of the verticals.

>(I put this back in here at UT a 2nd time, because I left out some possibly important information.)
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>I have 2 field objects on the DETAIL Band. One field object displays the words, "Change Order 01" or something similar, if there has been a change order, otherwise, "" <-- nothing is displayed.
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>I want to be able to shrink the DETAIL Band, as well as the vertical lines when there is nothing to print for the one field object that displays "Change Order 01".
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>The code for this object is:
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>

IIF(tmpPOReport.PO_SUFFIX = "00", "", "Change Order " + PO_Suffix)

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>I set this object to "Remove Line if Blank", and it does not display the words 'Change Order 01', unless the PO_Suffix is other than "00". This works properly; however, because I had to expand the height of the detail band in order to put in this 2nd object, the height remains constant and doesn't shrink down, as I would like it to, when the PO_Suffix is equal to "00".
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>If the above object disappears (Remove Line if Blank), why then does this detail band stay at the same height, thus wasting space? How can I get the one object to disappear and give up its space on the line? The other object that prints every time is the detail line item for the Purchase Order.
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>New Information for VERTICAL LINES in DETAIL BAND:
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>The Object position of the VERTICAL LINES is set to: FIX RELATIVE TO TOP OF BAND
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>Stretch Downwards is set to: STRETCH RELATIVE TO HEIGHT OF BAND