Remove Blanks from cascading (dependent) drop-down list - excel

So I've got a table with two drop-down lists; the first is a drop-down list of categories, the second is a list of projects within those categories. The way it works is simple: you pick a category, and then the second list gives you the appropriate projects. The lists are based on this table:
The problem I'm facing is that the number of projects in each category isn't the same, so while it works fine for categories like Graphic Design (Column D), the list for categories like 3D animation (Column B) are filled with blank spaces.
Is there any simple way of getting rid of the spaces?
Ideally by having excel ignore blanks, because we add new projects from time to time, so Id like the range to stay the same, and not have to fiddle with it too much when adding new projects.
Thanks :)

Here is a simplified illustration on one way to achieve what you want. Note I am applying this in Sheet2.
Let's assume that your lists are in a table called Table1.
Let's assume that your initial dropdown is in E2, and that options must correspond with the header names in Table1.
Firstly we will create a name called DepDD_All, as follows:
=INDEX(Table1,0,MATCH(Sheet2!$E$2,Table1[#Headers],0))
This will generate a sub-list for your dependent dropdown, including blank lines.
To create lists based only on the actual line count, I will use a secondary name, called DepDD_Dyn, as follows:
=INDEX(DepDD_All,1,1):INDEX(DepDD_All,COUNTA(DepDD_All),1)
Reference this name in your dropdown to display only lists with relevant number of items.

Related

Dependent drop-down list for two columns in the same table

Basically what I am trying to do is have two drop-down lists that are depended of each other show a drop down for either the first names or last names available of a person when the other is selected.
To clarify. I have a big list of client information in a table. One row includes first names and one row includes last names. What I am looking for is when I fill out a userform and select either a first name or last name in one of the boxes, for all possible first or last names to appear in the other drop-down list.
So if I select "Mike" in my first list, all the last names for people named Mike will appear in a list.
It can either be a formula or vba code, whichever is best.

Making a combined file name from several drop down lists

I am trying to figure out how to use Excel, or some other means, to create a name generator. So for example, you choose (from a drop down list I pre-define) several attributes then it spits out a name I can then copy and paste when saving my file.
For example:
I select Room 25, on floor 11, of building A in Orlando campus, it would spit out:
ORL-A-1125
Is this something excel is capable of? If not, can anyone recommend an alternative application or approach and how to go about it?
Yes that is possible in Excel. You need to arrange your list entries in columns and the shorter codes they translate to in an adjacent column. You need a pair of columns for each section.
Choose a cell for the dropdown and right click it. Go to Data | Validation | Allow | List. This lets you define the range of cells that the dropdown gets it's entries from. Do that for each of your four sections.
Beneath each dropdown you then need to use the "VLOOKUP" function that looks up the value your dropdown has selected and returns the value 1 column to the right.
Finally write a formula to concatenate the four sections into a single string and you've got your filename.
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-a-drop-down-list-7693307a-59ef-400a-b769-c5402dce407b
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/vlookup-function-0bbc8083-26fe-4963-8ab8-93a18ad188a1

Dynamic Named Range based on second column's value without VBA

I'm trying to build an interface that allows a user to select a category of modification (17 total categories) and have the second drop down box list only those modifications (anywhere from 5-30 modifications) that apply to that category.
Normally, I would set up reference tables to indicate which modifications apply to which category. However, this particular tool is going to have new data populated every week by a non-technical person. There is already a structure in place that will assign each modification number to a given category. However, the list of modification numbers present in any given data pull will change so much that maintaining the separate lists will get overly cumbersome.
My hope is that there is a way to have a dynamic named range contain only those values where the category column is equal to the selected category.
I want to use DNRs because I will be using it as part of a validated data list that will end up controlling the display of a handful of graphs for the end user. Additionally, we aren't allowed to use macros for our shared spreadsheets.
A1 would contain the category (I can get this named range to work just fine, it's a basic one)
A2 should contain only those mods from column C where the corresponding cell in column D equals the value of A1.
You can use a dynamic range name to pull the sub categories if
there is a two-column table with categories in one column and sub categories in the other column
all main categories are repeated (no blanks)
the table is sorted ascending by the main category column.
A dynamic range name can then be built with a formula along the lines of
=INDEX(Sheet1!$B:$B,MATCH(Sheet1!$E$2,Sheet1!$A:$A,0)):INDEX(Sheet1!$B:$B,MATCH(Sheet1!$E$2,Sheet1!$A:$A,1))
So, you only need to work out how to get this two-column table created dynamically from your data entry tool.
I did something similar recently, where the subcategories had to be user-updated. The categories and subcategories are easily updateable and easily understood by the non-technical, the only rule being that you don't leave blanks in the middle of your lists. In my working version, of course, the category table was on a separate "Menu" tab.
This is (a slightly simplified version of) the layout I came up with:
And these are the named ranges in the example:
category is the category cell
cats is the row that holds the list of available categories
DDCats is the list of categories for the drop-down, dropping blanks
mods is the full grid of subcategories/modifications
modlist is the dynamically chosen column of mods, dependent on the chosen category
DDMods is the list of mods for the drop-down, dropping blanks

Cognos Headers/Footers

Does anyone know if it's possible to have more than one Overall Footer in a list? I am building a list that contains a 3 row table in each column, and the list is grouped by product. I would like two of these rows to show as overall totals for all products in the list. I have added an Overall Footer for one, which is summing correctly. I had to use a List Page Footer for the other which is returning the last amount in the list instead of summing. I tried to use 'Summarize' but since each column contains 3 separate rows of data, I'm not sure if this is possible. I'm trying to avoid creating separate data items for each column that will sum by product (ie total(Sales for Product)) because I have lots of columns and that will equate to lots of extra data items.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
You can have more than one header/footer row within a list. Click the list, then go to the 'Headers/Footers' button just to the right of Section/Pivot and add additional header and footer rows. By default they add as one merged row, but if you select if you can unmerge it into individual cells.
Hope Im following you here for the next part...
If you want to repeat the overall totals in one of these footer rows in the child table, I would do it via singletons. Having a parent/child relationship may force you to create an additional query which is just the total values. Then have the singletons reference that new query, not either the parent/child.
Unlock the report, drag block/s in the footer where you want to repeat the summary data, drag your data items inside the block.

Comparing Multiple Lists of Data in Excel to Find Correlating Data

I thought I knew where to start with this but sadly I it's been long enough to where I need some assistance. First of all what I am working with is four lists of product data that I need to compare against my own product data.
So for example each of the product lists contain the following data:
Product Category
Product Name
Inventory
Product Price
Each of the lists have at least a thousand records.
What I need is a fifth list that tells me which of the competitors products I don't have on my list.
Last but not least and where this gets trickier is that the inventory contains duplicate records.
Its hard for me even to construct this question as I spend time with it.
What I want though is a list of products that are shared by all of the competitors that I do NOT have on my product list.
If you are familiar with PivotTables perhaps the multiple-consolidation ranges option could be used to suit your needs...
Select the multiple-consolidation ranges option by accessing the PivotTable wizard dialog (Shortcut: Alt+D+P) then enter settings in the dialog similar to below. The data is shown on the same sheet but could equally be stored in different sheets or even closed workbooks.
Rearrange columns and group product names into "Matched" and "Unmatched" as shown. There are several methods to automate the grouping, the simplest is probably to add a count column beside the pivottable and filter on rows where there are 4 items, then you can select visible items in the row field by pressing Alt+; and choose the group option. Rename this group "Matched", then filter for less than 4 items in the count column and rename the group "Unmatched"
Now you can compare all matched product names with your own list using a simple vlookup or otherwise.

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