Forum Discussion
Excel searchable combobox
As I said, the new Dynamic Range functions, with a database, can do some pretty amazing things with drop down boxes. Assuming that the list of things which (to stick with your example) "glove" would elicit is somewhat fixed, changing perhaps on a monthly basis, I would think we could create something that would work. Certainly assuming you routinely start with a finite set of "first words"...
Anyway, let's wait for somebody who knows the ins and outs of Combo Boxes.....
mathetesalso the combo box will find a match no matter where the word is in the description of the item, beginning, middle, or end.
jrod68 I believe you are in need of a searchable dropdown list. Provided that your Excel version supports the new Dynamic Array functions, you can read about it in the attached link.
https://www.xelplus.com/searchable-drop-down-list/
In your case, you need separate data validation rules for each line item. A slimmed down example is given in the attached workbook.
Riny_van_Eekelen mathetes Thanks for the assistance. I figured out I didn't need another combo box that was adjacent to the searchable one after all. I used vlookup and linked those cells to cells that the combo box was linked to as well. Now my problem is that I fill in the first combo box with my selection. When I go to try to fill in the next combo box below it the first one pops open and doesn't let me see the next one to select what I want. I've attached the file. In my first version I was trying to use sheet 2 to hide everything but decided to just put it all on the first sheet. I created duplicate lists and formulas so that I could link them individually to each combo box. So ignore sheet 2 and the duplicate lists in the alphabetical columns. The first printable page will be the only one that will be looked at.
Riny_van_Eekelen mathetes I found part of my problem. I got ahead of myself and didn't finish changing the formulas in the duplicate lists. Hopefully that solves my problem.
Thanks for that link, Riny. What a resource! I've saved the page in Evernote and her sample file in the cloud.
mathetes The example file is mine, by the way. But inspired by what I found on Youtube in other places.
