> Is this a design or config problem?

In regard TIB_ComboBox:

AFAIK the ItemValues property was added sometime later in the
development of IBO. At the time that feature was added the IB_Grid
aspects were not considered. I am not sure whether there would be
a way to make TIB_ComboBox work properly on IB_Grid using the
ItemValues, and I dont have time to investigate at the moment.


In regard to TIB_ComboBoxEnh:

There is no problem, just a slightly more complicated setup
required (using its DisplayField property and a CalculatedField in
the query).


And if you want my blatantly honest opinion... The VCL TCustomGrid
component was poorly designed from the beginning - the component on
which TIB_Grid is based. The shortcomings of the design should have
been picked up by Dephi v2 or v3 and fixed well before now. But
then, perhaps this is Borland's way of keeping the third party
component developers happy. By providing a poor grid they leave
lots of scope for others to do better.

--
Geoff Worboys
Telesis Computing