Hello Terry

>I'm assuming that the combo's RowSourceType = 0 (none)?

Yes.

>I don't see why having a -ve value as a text string should be a problem. But what is >it Bound to - a field in a table?

A remote view to SQL server, Integer type.

>why is it bound? Why then do you need to have a BoundColumn?

The combo indicates values to be used in parts of the application. When reports or product strings are being processed, my code will see a positive integer (in the control source) and know it is a product value, details of which can be looked up from a picklist table (that data-drive the dropdown lists). If the control source has a 0 (zero), the value is "Not Applicable", and if the value is -1, then the user has typed "free form" data in a different field for this value because a suitable value (or one-off requirement) has not been found in the drop-down list. The stored values are utilised way after the combo choices have been made and saved to the server.

Regards,

Angie.