VLookUp - Questions - Spreadsheet setup

[Cpviv]

Hi,

I need to setup a spreadsheet that has criterias go like this:

Cell A3 - Enter a key word. It will give me a list of the searched key words
(maybe comes from Data Validation List formula) for selection.

Cell B3 - It may shows two or more cells information for selection, after
cell A3 information select. The selection can come in drop-down list, or
appears in column B cells.

Cell C3 - It may shows two or more cells information for selection, after
cell B3 information select. The selection can come in drop-down list, or
appears in column C cells.

I know I need to use VLookUp and other formulas. But how should I go about
setting up this spreadsheet criterias?

 

[Spiky]

Using several dropdowns suggests the user picks all the items. If you
want to do this, you need to have the choices elsewhere, and the
dropdown can reference them.

Vlookup would be if you want the user to make one choice and the other
columns to automatically give other info. Also, it can only look up
one thing and return one thing. So if you are trying to use 3
dropdowns and then reference those 3 items to put data elsewhere, you
may need a different formula than vlookup to do it.

So....what exactly are you trying to do?

 

[Cpviv]

Thanks for the advises Spiky.

Ok, so, if I need to use different formulas to do this setup, which formula
would you advise?

Here is the example:

Cell A3 - Input a key word say "John". It will search, and give me a
drop-down list that contains the searched relate to the word "John".

Cell B3 - This cell will be the Cell A3's referencing data that comes in a
drop-down list (Jogging, Gardening, Reading, etc) for selection.

Can this works?

 

[Spiky]

Thanks for the advises Spiky.

Ok, so, if I need to use different formulas to do this setup, which formula
would you advise?

I'm still not sure what you want the spreadsheet to do. A combination
of Match/Index can do a more advanced lookup. Sumproduct can do some
things with multiple variables.

Here is the example:

Cell A3 - Input a key word say "John". It will search, and give me a
drop-down list that contains the searched relate to the word "John".

Cell B3 - This cell will be the Cell A3's referencing data that comes in a
drop-down list (Jogging, Gardening, Reading, etc) for selection.

Can this works?

Yes, you can base your Data Validation on what is entered in another
cell.