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NeedHelp1015's avatar
NeedHelp1015
Copper Contributor
Feb 10, 2020
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How to attach specific dates to a specific category that is in the dropdown menu??? Help !

Hello All, 

 

I am trying to create a worksheet of several of my accounts category review schedules and simply putting their information in one place that is easy to use and maintain. That being said, I am a newbie with excel and I need to know how to attach specific dates to a specific category that is in the dropdown menu. 

Example:

Sprouts - Category(Aromatherapy in the dropdown list) - Submission Deadline date is : 

 

I have attached my worksheet for a visual. 

 

Thank you in advance!!! 

  • NeedHelp1015 

    I notice that you have all the items for your dropdown list written in the Source-field of the Conditional Formatting dialogue box. It's better to create a list of all items in a separate sheet and then create a reference to that list in the Source-field. And then you can add the logic that SergeiBaklan was aiming at. You need to determine the date to be attached to each Category yourself. Once that has been accomplished, it's easy to fill in the date, based upon the selected Category.

    I've attached a revised version of your sheet to demonstrate the principle. It uses Structured Tables and the VLOOKUP function to find the dates. In case your Excel version recognises the new XLOOKUP function, you could try the following formula in column K of the first sheet. It will produce the same result, but with more flexibility.

    =XLOOKUP([@Category],Table1[Category],Table1[Submission Date],"",0)

    If this is not the kind of logic you had in mind, please clarify your intentions.

10 Replies

  • Riny_van_Eekelen's avatar
    Riny_van_Eekelen
    Platinum Contributor

    NeedHelp1015 

    I notice that you have all the items for your dropdown list written in the Source-field of the Conditional Formatting dialogue box. It's better to create a list of all items in a separate sheet and then create a reference to that list in the Source-field. And then you can add the logic that SergeiBaklan was aiming at. You need to determine the date to be attached to each Category yourself. Once that has been accomplished, it's easy to fill in the date, based upon the selected Category.

    I've attached a revised version of your sheet to demonstrate the principle. It uses Structured Tables and the VLOOKUP function to find the dates. In case your Excel version recognises the new XLOOKUP function, you could try the following formula in column K of the first sheet. It will produce the same result, but with more flexibility.

    =XLOOKUP([@Category],Table1[Category],Table1[Submission Date],"",0)

    If this is not the kind of logic you had in mind, please clarify your intentions.

    • NeedHelp1015's avatar
      NeedHelp1015
      Copper Contributor

      Riny_van_Eekelen  Also, each "Retailer" have different dates for each of the categories listed; would I create a "Categories" tab for each retailer so the dates populate properly? If so how do I link each category tab to the individual retailer? 

       

      Example: Fresh Thyme Farmers Market "Aromatherapy" submission deadline is 4/2/20 but Sprouts Farmers Market "Aromatherapy" submission deadline is 6/10/20 . 

      • Riny_van_Eekelen's avatar
        Riny_van_Eekelen
        Platinum Contributor

        NeedHelp1015 Not sure now if every retailer has different data for every single category. Have aded a column for "Retailer" in the Category sheet. Would it be feasible to enter all the possible dates there? If not every retailer has every category you can simply leave them out.

        It will be quite a job, I believe. From there, we can take the next step and set the dates for each category based on retailer.

      • Riny_van_Eekelen's avatar
        Riny_van_Eekelen
        Platinum Contributor

        NeedHelp1015 

        The VLOOKUP function call for several arguments.

        1) what to look up (cell)

        2) where to look up (range)

        3) which column in the range to return

        4) look for closest match (1 or TRUE) or exact match (0 or FALSE)

         

        In cell I2, you want to return the date in the 2nd column from the Category listing, in J2 it would be the 3rd and so on. I changed it for you in the attached sheet, but please read the help screens on VLOOKUP to fully understand the principle. You can automate this part, but it would require incorporating MATCH in the formula.

        I2: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@Category],Table1,2,0),"")
        J2: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@Category],Table1,3,0),"")
        K2: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@Category],Table1,4,0),"")
        etc.

         

         

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