Absolutely Positioned controls and tables

[jonefer]

is it possible to put a control in a table that has a different z-index so
that it can move or grow independently of other controls in the table?

using a z-index requires the control to be absolutely positioned, but then
that defeats the purpose of why something should be in a table, so this is a
dilemma.

Ok, and now the reason I am asking for this is that I found a nice control
that simulates the kind of multi-column combo box that can be created in MS
Access.
http://www.codeproject.com/Ajax/AJAXAutoSuggest.asp. I haven't yet found a
non-3rd party control that gives me all this functionality.

The dilemma is that the author uses a 'table' for the dropdown portion, so
if placed inside a table, the cell will grow when the box drops down.

I have manged to get the look I want by placing his control inside a div,
however, if one of these divs happens to be underneath a gridview that is
supposed to grow, I will be in the same situation.

I imagine there must be a way to handle this without having to make ALL my
controls absolutely positioned on a page. Any ideas?