Forum Discussion
Data Validation for Multi-Column Selection in Drop Down List
12 Replies
Can you post the spreadsheet as it exists now. (just make sure no private or confidential info is in it)
And maybe describe a little more thoroughly how this data validation process is to work:
- Is it to show only the combinations in each row of A and B in Sheet 1, or every possible combination?
- If the latter, can we break it into two separate steps (two separate entries) during data entry in Sheet 2?
Maybe describe just a bit more what the application is, where it's to be used, how, by whom.
Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions, but I was able to get what I wanted to do with the following formula:
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A2,Sheet1!A2:B,2,FALSE),"Choose a Food")
You're certainly welcome. I'm glad you found a solution that is working for the time being.
I'd have to say, it looks like something that can function, but may not be the most effective in the long run. One of the fascinating things about Excel is that there often are multiple routes to a workable solution. Sometimes they're equally effective; other times they're not.
So I'd still invite you to post your spreadsheet and solicit feedback....... along with a full description of the context here. How is this being used?
Data Validation doesn't work that way, so it would require VBA to do what you want. That seems to be overkill to me.
The attached version shows a slightly different way:
It uses a helper column on the data sheet:
