Strange validation list problem.

[Lostguy]

Hello!

A sheet has a dropdown list for cell A1 (for example). The list
contains "NA,dog,cat,fish" and "Ignore blanks" is NOT checked. A2 has
a concatenate formula using what is in A1.

For some reason, when I open the workbook, A1 is blank. It has the
little arrow which shows it has a dropdown, but none of the 4 dropdown
choices are displayed.

When I click on the cell itself , nothing happens and it keeps the
blank there. When I click on the arrow nect to the cell, it brings up
the dropdown and I must pick one of the 4 choices. I can't get the
blank to show up after that no matter what I do.

The problem is that one of my users printed out A2 while A1 was blank
which made the A2 concatenate use a blank space which produced a bad
printout.

I have never seen it where there is no blank in the dropdown list
itself, and "ignore blanks" is unchecked, but it still allows a blank
cell to be displayed.

BTW, the rest of the sheet is locked and then the whole sheet
protected. This in Excel 2003.

Any help appreciated! I have the workbook available if anyone wants to
take a crack at it.

VR/

Lost

 

[Gord Dibben]

First...................................

You misunderstand the purpose of "ignore blanks"

If the source list is a named range that contains blank cells, users may be
able to type any entry, without receiving an error message. To prevent this:

Select the cell that contains a data validation list
Choose Data|Validation
On the Settings tab, remove the check mark from the Ignore blank box.
Click OK
Note: If the source list contains blank cells, and is a range address, e.g.
$A$1:$A$10, it will block invalid entries with Ignore blank on or off.

Second..........................................

If your list is directly entered as a comma de-limited list you can add a
blank entry by adding a comma <space>

i.e. NA,dog,cat,fish,<space>


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP