Drop List Options Dependent On Another Drop Down List Option

[Guest]

I was just wondering if any one was able to help me with this matter. i am
currently trying to make it so that I can have a list of options in one drop
down list, and depending on what gets picked there, make it so that the
options for the second drop down list correspond with the first. If this
does not make any sense, please tell me so, and I will try to explain more.

Thank You,
Corinne

 

[Jay Freedman]

This job requires a macro. It can be either the exit macro of the
first dropdown or the entry macro of the second dropdown. The macro
has to look at the selected item in the first dropdown, and fill the
list of the second dropdown with the appropriate data.

There are a number of ways of storing the data for the second
dropdown, and the choice depends on factors such as how the form will
be used (on one PC, on a network, emailed out of the company), how
much data there is (how many items in the first list, and how many in
the second list for each one in the first), and how often the data
needs to be changed. If you can give an idea of how these factors play
in your form, I can give more specific advice.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Hello Jay,

Thank you so much for getting back to my question. This document will be
emailed out to the other employees in the office. So far there is about 20
different choices in the first drop list and still growing. The document is
a Bill of Lading for the trucking company that I work with and the first drop
list is a list of the customers that use us all the time and then I want to
have it so that the second drop list is a list of the different locations
accociated with the customer. At the moment, I have 1 drop list for the
customer requesting the trip (shipper), 1 drop list for who the trip is going
to (consignee) and 1 for who is paying for the trip (billed to). The list
that I would like to use for the other list is the consignee list. I hope
that this information helps you to help me.

Thank you so much,
Corinne

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Corinne,

So far I'm still in the asking-questions stage, trying to get a clear
picture of the requirements.

1. Of all the people who need to fill out the form, do they all have
access to a single server on a network, or are all the computers
separate? What I'm trying to determine is whether the data for the
dropdowns could be stored in a file that's separate from the form but
accessible to all the users, or whether the data needs to be held
within the form itself. The fact that the form might travel by email
isn't the deciding issue, it's whether there's a single place all the
users can reach.

2. I understand there are about 20 shippers, and that list will grow
and change, sometimes rapidly. About how many consignees are there for
each shipper? Can you estimate the maximum number?

3. I assume the list of billed-to names also changes with the
selection of a shipper. Is that correct?

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Hello Jay,

All of the computers are seperate, so it would have to be held within the
document itself. The lists of shipper and billed to are seperate from what I
am trying to create. The only list that I would like affected by the choice
choosen in the Consignee list is the destination list. The maximum number
that I can estimate the consignee list being would be 50 companies.

I hope that this information helps you.
Corinne

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Corinne,

OK, we've settled the point that the data need to be in the document.

Now I'm not clear on which list is which. Earlier you said there were
three lists: shipper, consignee, and billed to. Is the "destination
list" one of these three, or is there a fourth list?

There's a limitation of the dropdown form field that you haven't yet
seen -- it can only hold a maximum of 25 items. That means I'm going
to have to show you how to build a "userform", which is a custom
dialog box created in VBA. I think it would be better to design this
in at the beginning rather than waiting until you outgrow the form
field.

Instead of trying to explain here how to do all this, I'm planning to
build an example and have you download it and study it. It would be
helpful to have a small sample of your data to work with, say two or
three items from the consignee list and several destinations for each
one.

One more question: What version of Word do you have, and will the
other people have the same version or some other version?

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Jay,

I am very sorry about being confussing. At the moment there is 3 lists, but
would like to have a 4th that has the desintations. I just haven't done that
yet because I would like to do it correct the first time instead of doing up
the list twice.

At the moment, my computer has Word 2003 but there are a couple of people in
the office with the new version as well.

I just have one question regarding doing a userform. Is it hard to use,
because I am not planning on being with the company forever, and I don't want
it to be too hard for the other people to deal with because some of them are
extremely computer iliderate (can't spell).

Thank you for your help again,
Corinne

 

[Jay Freedman]

Userforms aren't hard to use -- any more than any dialog with dropdowns plus
OK and Cancel buttons would be hard to use. You just have to design them
logically so people know what to expect.

The part that's a bit harder is designing and creating them, because it
can't be done without some knowledge of how to write macros. But your
project was going to involve macros anyway, even if you had fewer items and
could use dropdowns directly in the document. Adding a userform is just one
more task -- one that I'll help you with -- and it only needs to be done
once.

A form with userform and macros that works in Word 2003 will also work in
Word 2007.

It would probably be easiest if you email to me a copy of your form as it is
now, so I can see what's required.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

How do I email you the form?

Userforms aren't hard to use -- any more than any dialog with dropdowns plus
OK and Cancel buttons would be hard to use. You just have to design them
logically so people know what to expect.

The part that's a bit harder is designing and creating them, because it
can't be done without some knowledge of how to write macros. But your
project was going to involve macros anyway, even if you had fewer items and
could use dropdowns directly in the document. Adding a userform is just one
more task -- one that I'll help you with -- and it only needs to be done
once.

A form with userform and macros that works in Word 2003 will also work in
Word 2007.

It would probably be easiest if you email to me a copy of your form as it is
now, so I can see what's required.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Click my name at the top of the message you just replied to (where it says
"By:") to find my email address. Or use the mail link on my web page at
http://jay-freedman.info. Attach the form to the email, preferably as a zip
file.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.