How do I validate data from another validation cell?

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Guest

I am currently working on a project that I can't figure out the last few
details. This is similar to what I have:
Program: (followed by validated list of programs as a dropdown)
Features: (followed by validated list of features as a dropdown)

Table in another tab:
Program Feature
Word Table of Contents
Excel Pivot Table
Both Save
Both Print

I would like to limit the Features validation to only display features that
are in the program the user chose (i.e., If they chose Word as the program,
it should only show Table of Contents, Save, and Print in the dropdown). Any
ideas on this?
 
That has some great information that could work, however, if possible I want
to go one or two steps further. The example showed fruit in two categories.
My categories are combined. Using the example on the site, let me restate
the question. Let's say I have a list of the food groups (i.e. meats, dairy,
fruits/veggies, etc.) and specific foods for each one listed in one large
column. For each item of food, a second column states what food group it is
in. This is done in my data tab. Now I go to my main tab and have a
validated cell to select what food group I want to look at. I want a second
validated cell to only show the foods in the food group. Now let's say all
the foods in the data cell are alphabetical, so it is not possible to select
only the fruits and name the column Fruits. How would I validate the second
cell to show only the food items from the selected group? And if possible,
one step further would be to note that maybe a food item could be classified
as two different groups. Just for this example, let's say yogurt is both
dairy and fruit (having milk products and fruit). Recognizing this, I change
the food group column to hold the first letter of the food group name and if
multiple ones, it holds the first letter for each group it fits in. (i.e.
milk would have D for Dairy, yogurt would have FM) Is this possible
(assuming each item can only fit in one or two food groups)? Thanks!
 
Hi Bo

i do not know how to achieve this without using VBA, i guess you could put a
worksheet_change event in place that looks at what is chosen in the first
data / validation box and creates and populates a second data validation box
meeting your requirements.

So, first question - are you happy with a code solution?
if so, i will need to know
what is the cell reference(s) of the first validation box
what is the cell reference(s) of the second (dependent) box
what do you want to do if a value has been selected in the second box and
then someone changes their mind for the first box?
also there will need to be a table somewhere that says "F" in the second
column equals "Fruit" and "M" equals "Meat" - what is the reference of this
table?

if you don't want a code solution then i think what you're after is not
possible.
 
Since it appears not possible without code, I suppose VBA would work, but I
am not familiar with the language. I am a beginner programmer in C++,
however, so if you could include some code, I'm sure I could figure it out.
To answer some questions you have, let's say I have a label in the first tab
("Report") with "Enter food group" in cell A3 and cell D3 has the dropdown
with the list of food groups. For simplicity, let say there are three to
choose from (Fruits, Meats, and Dairy). These are listed in Data!A2:A4 with
a label of FoodGroups that is validated as a list in D3 for the dropdown.
Next I have A5 with a label "Choose your food" with a dropdown in cell D5
with a validation for a list using Data!B8:B243 for the food items.
Data!A8:A243 has the food group (values for these cells can be: Dairy, Meats,
Fruits, Dairy/Meat, Dairy/Fruits, Meat/Fruits). If I choose in cell D3
"Fruits", I would like the dropdown in D5 to show food items that have the
food group Fruits, Dairy/Fruits, and Meat/Fruits only. If they choose Fruits
in the first cell and select Milk in the second, then change their mind in
the first, the second cell should switch to a blank cell (or the first item
of the list, whichever is easier). I would also like the ability to add
additional items or delete others in the future without drastically changing
the calculations.
Thanks in advance!
 
Hi Bo

i'll try to have a look at this in detail tomorrow and get back to you ...
 
Hi Bo

email me direct (julied_ng at hcts dot net dot au) and i'll send you a
sample workbook with it setup ... and we can take it from there.
 
and if you can't get me on that email (i've had problems from other people
in the ng trying to get through) use
julied at consultant dot com
 
Hi Julie,

Perhaps you would like to upload your sample book via
http://flypicture.com/
(I'm not promoting the site, but it's a free file host, no need to
subscribe)

This will avail your sample for d/l to all interested readers of the
newsgroup, at least for the next 30 days (under their hosting T&Cs) <g>
 
Hi Max

not a bad idea, i guess it may be of interest to other people too. I'll put
it up on my website (see address in sig) in the next day or so.
 
JulieD said:
not a bad idea, i guess it may be of interest to other people too.
I'll put it up on my website (see address in sig) in the next day or so.
Click to expand...
.. and why not? here's at least one "lurker" that looks forward to it ! <g>
 
Hi Max

try the refresh button it might be cached ... the file is at the end of the
Excel bit called SAMPLE WORKBOOK Dependent data validation lists using VBA.
 
JulieD said:
try the refresh button it might be cached ...
the file is at the end of the Excel bit called
SAMPLE WORKBOOK Dependent data validation lists using VBA.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Julie. Got the file now.
But I seem to have a problem getting it up (macros are enabled).
Does it work in Excel 97 (my version) ?
 
Hi Max

sorry i don't have ver 97 on my machine anymore to test against ... email me
direct (julied_ng at hcts dot net dot au) and we can walk through the macro
and see what's going on ....
 
I haven't looked at Julie's file, but in Excel 97, selecting an item
from a Data Validation dropdown list doesn't trigger a Change event,
unless the list items have been typed in the Data Validation dialog box.
 
Hi Debra

that's the problem then ... any work-arounds that you know of, short of
putting a "show options" button on the ws?
 
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