Forum Discussion
Create a dropdown list from a formula
I have a single cell (L) that I want to use as free typing space but I also want to use this cell as a dropdown list if it is standard hardware
I have a list of standard hardware (name std_hdw) on a data page
Is that possible?
| H | I | J | K | L |
| CUSTOMER: | ||||
| Manufacturer: | ||||
| # of drs | Hdw Set: 1a | Door (s): | ||
| std hdw | ||||
| y | dropdown list here - if cell I is y, free text if not | |||
| y | ||||
3 Replies
Who is filling this out? You are asking the question "Standard hardware?" before presenting the dropdown list. A customer might not even know what qualifies as "standard" so they could be saying "Y" without realizing they're actually needing something that, surprisingly, isn't standard after all.
How about reversing your thinking. Present the drop down list first, containing all that YOU define as "Standard" and have as the last entry "Other--Please specify" which then leads them to the adjacent column where they enter their description of the "non-standard" item.
mathetes This is for internal use - no customers will be using it
The intent is to limit how a standard part is defined - to determine labor for installation on a separate sheet.
I think I'd still approach it the way I suggested.
I don't know how long your drop down list of standard parts is, whether it varies by some higher order of assembly (if so, see the attached example of what I've called Cascading Data Validation; this would enable you to have different sets of "Standard parts" for different major product categories), but to my way of thinking it still makes sense to offer the drop down list first, with the option of adding a description of the "Other" rather than asking the user--whether customer or not--to run through their own recollection of what's included under "Standard"
