Dynamic data validation lists populated from another cell - excel

I am trying to achieve two things which I presume are possible but I'm unsure of where to start.
What I am hoping to achieve is to populate the list (shown in cell C4) with the data entered in cell A3. What I don't know is how to make the A3 string breakdown based on the comma delimiter so that it is not one long string, but rather results in a list at C4, as displayed in the screenshot.
Note: I have hardcoded the list shown in the screenshot as I wanted to show what I need to achieve. If I reference A3 directly (=$A$3), my list only has one item - 'Yes, No, I don't know', opposed to the list displayed in the screenshot.
Then, if this is possible, instead of hard coding A3 as the reference, I want to read the value in B4. This would allow me to change the value of B4 to point at any other cell, such as A6.
I believe both these things are likely possible but Googling has not helped as it appears I'm searching for the wrong keywords.

Instead of having all options in one cell, why don't you just make a list across different columns and then enter in the reference cell the letter of the column. Then in your validation, use indirect(cell ref & "1:" & cell ref & "Max row num").
Or better yet, name the ranges, then simply list the name of the range in the reference cell and use indirect(cell ref) to dynamically change drop down options. E.g your range would be named "fruit", in b4 you would enter "fruit".

May be you can try to separate them in cell A3
=SUBSTITUTE(LEFT($A$2,FIND(",",$A$2,1)),",","")
and try to paste as will in Cell A4
=MID(A2,FIND("Yes",$A$2,2),3)
so as will separate the last word to cell A5
=RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND("Yes, ",$A$2)-4)
And your Source in your data validation would be
=$A$2:$A$4

Related

Cell value dependant drop downs (simple INDIRECT(CellValue) no good)

I have searched web, but can not find a way to do cell value dependant drop down, when more than one DD depends on same cell value.
Here is simplified version of what I am trying to do:
enter image description here
The first dependant drop down in Cell C4 uses =INDIRECT(C2) formula in Data Validation. And works perfect - When C2 = "_A", C4 drop down is named range _A.
What formula I need to use in C5 Data Validation to still give me drop down based on same Cell C2 value, but this time from other Named Ranges?
Hope my question makes sense. Please help!
What you need are different string to be inputted in each INDIRECT statement.
This can be done with a VLOOKUP
First you will need a table matching each possible value in C2 to named ranges for each cell that will use data validation.
I don't know what your setup is, so I assumed C2 can only have one of two values: _A and _B -- just add rows for more values
In C4, use the following formula for Data validation:
=INDIRECT(VLOOKUP(C2,O2:P3,2))
And in C5:
=INDIRECT(VLOOKUP(C2,O2:Q3,3))
You can have the lookup table wherever you want, just change the references accordingly, also put in whatever named ranges you have in the correct spot in the lookup table

Mixing external and internal cell referencing in formula

I don't have a decent way of explaining this but I'm going to try. Sorry.
I have two documents. I'm linking one document to the other to present some info from that first document into the second one inside a specific cell.
Let's say I want the data from B2 from my first sheet. Is the only way to do this is by typing B2 into the formula itself or can I create a variable and have that space be filled in by putting the appropriate cell number into another cell? If I want it to reference B2 from the external sheet, can I type B2 into a specific cell on the page and that cell is defined as my_number and I can place that variable my_number into the importrange formula?
Or can I not mix external and internal referencing? I tried to search for something similar online but I didn't have a lot of luck.
If this is still not explained very well, this is kind of a visual:
=IMPORTRANGE("mydocsheet.com/spreadsheet", "Sheet1![my_number]") instead of
=IMPORTRANGE("mydocsheet.com/spreadsheet", "Sheet1!B2")
Those are quoted strings representing cell range references; not true cell range references. You should have no problem using concatenated strings. With B2 in a named cell called my_number,
=IMPORTRANGE("mydocsheet.com/spreadsheet", "Sheet1!" & Sheet1!my_number")

excel - hide formula for easier input

I have a cell formula that's working mixing both text and an If statement, example: ="USER_INPUT" & IF(F2="Asia/Singapore","+08:00","+02:00") output: USER_INPUT+8:00
I'm not the one that will use this formula so I'd like to avoid having the user to search for the "USER_INPUT" in the whole formula in order to prevent mistakes.
Is it possible for the user just to type whatever he want in the cell wihout having the whole formula behind?
example of cell input I want:
="USER_INPUT" & formula
Is there any reason why the cell containing this formula cannot be in another location which the user does not need to edit? So I am suggesting that you have a highlighted cell somewhere for user input (say G2 for the sake of argument), and then in another cell you have the following formula:
=G2 & IF(F2="Asia/Singapore","+08:00","+02:00")
Your display cell can then refer to the cell containing the above formula. You could even take things a step further and lock the cells which contain the actual formulas, to make sure your users don't accidentally change them. Follow the link below for information on how to do that.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-sg/help/214081/xl-how-to-lock-individual-cells-in-a-worksheet

Is it possible to stop cell value link from one tab to another tab?

After searching for quite a while, I can't find the answer to this question, so if it's solvable, please feel free to answer :)
In the worksheet, I have two tabs: tab_A, tab_B.
tab_A has a list of data: A1, A2, A3, ...., etc.
tab_B is a copy of tab_A, through formula, so simply the cell value in tab_B is "=tab_A!A1", "=tab_A!A2", "=tab_A!A3", ... etc.
Now, here is the problem, if I want to add a data into the list in tab_A at location "A2", then what I do is that I add a new row after "A1", and type in the new "A2" value in the place where old "A2" was.
I expect the value in the tab_B at the location "=tab_A!A2" automatically changes to the new value that I just put in tab_A. But, instead, the value in that cell in tab_B changed to "=tab_A!A3".
Is there a way to link the cell values in two tabs that tab_B cell values stick to the cell values in tab_A at the location that I set?
Appreciate all the help!
Thanks!
You can use the INDIRECT function. In a scheme like that:
in the cell C1 you add:
=INDIRECT("A"&ROW(F1))
And autocomplete. The reference F1 it's to have a number that increase... Whit this code you can Insert and delete what you want and the second Table remain in Sync. If the second tab in in another table you add the reference before "A".

How to make a cell register if there is text in two other cells in Google spreadsheet

I have a spreadsheet (Google spreadsheet) where I register information about employee´s education. In the bottom of each column (every employee is represented by a column) I want the cell to display "Yes" if there is text in two other specified cells. (Not if there is text in only one of them, or none of them.)
I have tried all kinds of combinations using AND and IF and NOTBLANK, but I probably have the wrong syntax, or use the functions wrong.
So what I need help to understand is if there is text in cell B3 and in cell B34, how can I create a formula that displays the text "Yes" in cell B38?
Please try:
=if(and(not(isblank(B3));not(isblank(B34)));"Yes";"No")
This may cover a wider range of possibilities than you require but it is usually easeir to trim back than to expand. For example, If either B3 or B34 is empty, this formula returns No, rather than nothing at all (but the No is not obligatory) and the "text" in B3 and B34 can be either alpha or numeric, or a mixture.
Please try this, it works:
=IF(OR(ISBLANK(B3),ISBLANK(B34),NOT(ISTEXT(B3)),NOT(ISTEXT(B34))),"No","Yes")
Logic:
If any of Cell B3 or B34 is blank or contains Non-Text value is returns "No". It just returns "Yes" only if both the cells have a "Text" value.
More short and powerful Formula as per your requirement is as follows:
=IF(AND(ISTEXT(B3),ISTEXT(B34)),"Yes","No")

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