I don't think you can use your own custom property for the highlight. JMP does have "Alternate Column names" (Using a symbol in place of a column name ) which could work, but they can also be a bit annoying to use and most likely that is one reason for this wish listAllow secondary or alternate column names .
To update your Description to Notes, scripting is most likely the easiest option, below is one example
Names Default To Here(1);
dt = open("$SAMPLE_DATA/Big Class.jmp");
colnames = dt << Get Column Names("String");
// Initialization
For Each({colname}, colnames,
Column(dt, colname) << Delete Property("Notes");
);
For Each({colname}, Remove(colnames, 1),
desc = Hex(colname);
Column(dt, colname) << Add Column Properties(Set Property("Description", desc));
);
// Swap
For Each({colname}, colnames,
descval = Column(dt, colname) << Get Property("Description");
If(!IsEmpty(descval),
Column(dt, colname) << Set Property("Notes", descval);
);
);
-Jarmo