difference between forms and control toolbox

[Manikandan]

Hi,
I need to create a combo box in excel 2000.
First I added Forms from view=>toolbars=>forms
I added a combobox from forms
Then I added control toolbox from view=>toolbars=>control toolbox
Control toolbox also containd combobox.
Which combobox i have to use? from forms or control toolbox?
What is the difference between forms and control toolbox

Thanks,
Mani

 

[Dave Peterson]

The combobox from the control toolbox toolbar has lots more options that you can
play with--you'll see them under Properties when you rightclick and choose
properties (while you're in design mode).

The dropdown from the forms toolbar has lots fewer options but seems to be
better behaved when there are lots of controls on the worksheet.

One of the biggest differences is how you set the values that should be used in
the dropdown and what's returned.

With a combobox from the control toolbox toolbar, you rightclick on it, choose
properties and scroll to ListFillRange and type in the address of the range that
should be used. And then scroll to LinkedCell to assign the cell that gets the
results.

With a dropdown from the forms toolbar, you rightclick on the dropdown, choose
Format Control. Then on the Control tab, you can specify the Input Range and
Cell Link.

And you'll notice that the linkedcell of the combobox from the control toolbox
toolbar returns the value that you see in that combobox.

But the cell link of the dropdown from the Forms toolbar returns an index (a
number) into that range you specified as the Input Range.

You can use another cell to return the value. Say A1:A10 contains the list, B1
is the cell link.

You could use this in C1:
=if(b1=0,"",index(a1:a10,b1))