The condition is not unknown. The value is unknown. You could probably do this with an expression by comparing the value to the previous value. I'll play with it. In the mean time, see: Expression Is

Is this what you're looking for? I called my field GroupNumber. Any time the Group is different from the previous record, it's colored red. It's too complex to explain here, but I'll cover it in a video. You'll need to know DMax, DLookup, Conditional Formatting. My release schedule is back to Feb 9th, so if you want to see it as soon as it's ready, you'll need to be at least a Silver Member.

Thanks for quick response.  (btw, you're right - i did mean 'value' is unknown - whoops :) )

anyway, your list - It's certainly closer to the goal than what I've managed to achieve,
although i was hoping for different colors, not just 1 color.

it's got me thinking, tho'  - what about the use of a temporary table or query?
usually, my report or form has no more than about 5 or 6 different/separate values for the Sales Order on the report.

what if the database, before displaying the final resulting form or report,
created a temporary table, which would add an additional field, with sequential values,
basically giving each unique Sales Order a unique number?  

for example, sales order 123456 would be 1
and sales order 2048219 would be 2
sales order 20482348 would be 3,  etc etc

then the next week, when i run the report again,
with a different/new set of Sales Order numbers,
those would be assigned 1, 2, and 3, etc.

than the report could use 1, 2, and 3 for the actual conditional formatting of the Sales Order numbers?

hope that makes sense?

Sure you could use a Recordset to loop through the values, assigning them unique numbers from 1 to say 10, and then setup conditional formatting for each of those values. I also cover setting up unique conditional formatting with VBA in Access Developer 40

I'll show you how to do it this way where the value changes, and then perhaps in a future video when I have more time, I'll show you the other way. I'm in the middle of moving right now and today I have time for one short video.

Thanks for the help....  now i have a project for today  :)

and here's hoping your move goes smoothly!!

Thanks. Video uploading now.

Video is on the website here: Change From Previous. Again, you'll need to be at least a Silver Member to view it today. It will go public Feb 9th. Enjoy. Hope this helps.