[IxDA Discuss] When to display grid in list view

[jackbellis.com]

Ryana
OK, now that I understand you better...

The general answer is that you should display either grid lines or some 
substitute such as banding when the eye is challenged to follow across or 
down from the headings or other fields/values to the item in question. If 
it's truly a large chart (more than a 'fold'), technology such as freezing 
headers can substitute for gridlines:
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/bmerkey/examples/locked-column-csv.html

An article in the Society for Technical Communication's quarterly journal 
did a great job of defining the optimal text size relative to the line 
height (approx 50%, I think) and I think it also confirmed my feeling that 
the most attractive layout uses only horizontal bands. I've never seen the 
article online. This pattern can be seen in lots of publications that 
otherwise have good design. Using both horizontal and vertical lines looks 
oppressive in most situations. A lot of sites use light colors when they use 
both. I wrote a little topic on attractive table design at:
 http://www.usabilityinstitute.com/resources/userInYourFace/userInYourFace.htm#anchor8-Jack-----Hi,Jackbellis,Thank you for your kind notice.Now, I'll try to ask my question again.In Excel, the grid line is always displayed by default.  Then in what casesshall the grid line be displayed in a form? One case may be the user needsto set position to certain cell frequently. Any other ideas of theguidelines to display/hide the grid line?--Kind Regards!Ryana Chan