creating a blank option on a drop down list option - excel

Within Excel spreadsheet I would like to create a drop-down list with a blank space incase unknown information has to be inputted. I created a list for the most common information that is inputted but once in a blue moon rare information needs to be logged. Since the information is so rare and unknown it’s not possible to include it within the excel drop down box (since it’s unknown at the moment and will only be used once I therefore don’t want to add it within the drop-down list). I have created the list with a blank spot so I can type in the rare information in but when I click the blank information and try to type in the rare information a box pops up and says, this value doesn’t match the date validation restrictions defined for this cell. Is there a way to overcome this in Excel?
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Also, once that problem is solved, I would also like to also have a drop list always present in the column (not just when the field is selected) and I did go to insert and symbols Wingdings 3: 128 but that didn’t work. Maybe it’s because I have included a blank slot in the drop-down list. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

I think a dropdown list can only have predefined values. If you need other potential values, you would need to add an additional column for that data. Maybe use an option of "Other" in the dropdown and have an extra column for unusual values.

Related

Are there any negative consequences of giving ‘Title’ field a default value of ‘View’ and making it a hidden field?

When I create a list, I have gotten into the habit of doing the following:
Change Title field name to Item
Give it the default value of View
Go to Advanced Settings
Allow management of content types > Yes
Click Save
Then in Settings, click on the Item type
Then click on the Item field and select Hidden
Then go back to Advanced Settings
Allow management of content types > No
Click Save
The result of this is that:
The Title field (now called Item) is hidden in the form
I have a column called Item, which has the link View in each row (which opens up the item)
I can’t remember why I started doing this (possibly one of the reasons outlined in this video), but the use case must have demanded it and I just kept doing it.
However, lately I have been having troubling thoughts about whether it negatively effects indexing or has any other undesired outcomes.
For example, I did a search in a list the other today, and in the drop down search results that were displayed, I just got multiple rows of the value View.
I also read just before posting this question that list items in the recycle bin will be identified by the value that was in the Title column. So if they all say View it will be impossible to differentiate one from the other.
So I just thought I would see if there is any authoritative, definitive best practice around the Title column, and ask if my convention is bad and if so what I should replace it with.
Thank You.
(Edit: I also hide the Title column in document libraries, as it doesn’t seem to serve a purpose, as clicking on the value in the Name column opens up the document anyway - therefore the ‘link’ action of the Title field is not required).

Generate comboboxes depending on number inserted in first combobox

I'm doing an userform where in one of the fields (lets say its combobox1) the user is asked for the number of failures, and for each failure he has to put the type of failure, number of part and in another field the type of rework (3 fields to fill for each failure). And what I would like to know if that if it's possible to generate comboboxes depending on the number of failures made. For example: if the user puts 3 in the field of failures, 9 comboboxes should appear and so on.
I also think that maybe another way would be to have the standards 3 comboboxes and clear the fields each time the user press a button and a counter appears indicating which failure description he is filling, but I would also like to know how this could integrate into the whole userform, which already has a "submit" button.
Maybe there could be another reasoning for this, and I would greatly appreciate any help.
I don't really have much experience using dynamically created tabstrips, but they may be helpful with creating the layout you're describing. I would recommended in the base userform, include a tabstrip with a single tab and the 3 comboboxes/textboxes that are needed for a single failure. (You could keep it invisible until after "combobox1" has a value, if desired) Then use the number from the combobox to dynamically create the additional tabs on the tabstrip:
Private Sub ComboBox_Change()
'To remove previous tabs if combobox changed
For i = 1 To TabStrip1.Tabs.Count - 1
TabStrip1.Tabs.Remove(i)
Next i
'Adding additional tabs to tabstrip
For i = 1 To ComboBox.Value - 1
TabStrip1.Tabs.Add
Next i
End Sub
The tab currently selected can be identified by using the TabStrip1.Value property. I think the change event is queued by the TabStrip1.Value changing.
You will have to manually clear out any values when the tab strip changes (or fill back in values they previously filled out but want to view again).
However, since you'd be determining which tab you're on by "index" (the .value property) you could create a 2d array (redim it to correct rows/columns based off combobox1's value) and use the tab "index" to store combobox values and retrieve existing values for when the user switches back to an existing tab.
And maybe consider "locking" the combobox1 so the value can't be changed by accident. This could be accomplished by having a variable initialized to, maybe -1, which gets set to the combobox value after they've started adding infor to the incidents. Or don't remove any tabstrip tabs, only add if the number is greater than the existing count. (If you want them to put in whatever value they'd like, maybe consider using a textbox?)

Filtering Data In PowerPivot on Sharepoint

When viewing a PowerPivot workbook natively all is well. However when I save it to Sharepoint and view it via a browser, I find that the option to filter data by typing in a value is no longer present. (All there is is an extremely LONG list of values which must be scrolled through and checked.) Being able to type in a value to search on is rather crucial feature when one wants to filter on a row where there may be thousands (or more) distinct values. Using a slicer or the standard filter drop-down in this case is pretty unworkable! Is there no way around this?
Finally found a co-worker who could answer this question -- it was "hidden in plain sight". Instead of selecting 'Filter...' from a column header drop-down, select 'Label Filters' (used for text values) and then 'Begins with' from the secondary pop-up menu, and then you can type in the beginning of the string you are searching for. Silly me I thought 'Label Filters' had something to do with Labels, not text values.

Infopath and Cascading Dropdowns

I have a question for you bright minded souls. I have an Infopath form for a Sharepoint List (meaning that this is considered an Infopath List Form) that I would like certain behavior for... and I'm not quite sure how to achieve it.
The gist is, I have two dropdowns on the form and I want the second dropdown to change its values based on the first dropdowns selection.
Both are pointing at the same list. The list looks like so:
ID, ModuleName, SystemName, PayCode, LineOfBusoness
1, Mod1, Sys1, O, LOB1
2, Mod2, Sys2, O, LOB2
3, Mod3, Sys3, C, LOB3
4, Mod3, Sys4, O, LOB3
The first dropdown contains just the paycodes, so basically "O", and "C".
Now the second dropdown is where it gets tricky.
The second drop down is to display all the Lines of Business (LOB) from that list based on the PayCode selected in the previous dropdown. If they select "O" then just display all the LOBs that has the paycode of "O".
BUT... if they select "C"... well then there are also dropdowns on the form where they have already selected System and Module... so it would then take those values that were selected and choose the value in the list that has the System they chose, the Module they chose, and the Paycode they chose.
How can I do that? My first thought was well, just use code... but it turns out Infopath does not allow custom code on a "list form" which this is... wtf? So then the next option is to use the "cascading dropdown" approach whereby you can also use rules and filters to try and achieve this behavior.
Can that be done? What are your thoughts as to how you would tackle this problem?
Thanks in advance, and please let me know if you need additional information!
One way to do this is in the code behind.
Take the first drop down, find the field it is associated with, right click and create a "Changed" event.
In the code behind event, a Changed event will be created for that field. There you can grab the value of the currently selected item of the first drop down. Depending on that value, you can then modify the contents of the second drop down.
Do this by grabbing the original list, and running an SPQuery that selects all the items that have a "O" or "C" or whatever selected value is. You can also run a linq or foreach statement on all the list's items, whichever you prefer :)
Note: Make sure the drop down list control properties has "Always" selected in the Browser Forms tab of the properties (right click on the drop down list to access these properties)
Hope this helps!

How to hide a column in a list, dynamically in cognos?

Actually I'm working on Cognos 10.1 .
I have three prompts (Value prompt) in my report. All the prompts are optional. Based on the selections I wanna show the results. Each prompt corresponds to a column in the list. If the value is chosen in the prompt, it has to show the column. Else, it has to hide the column. We should not use conditional blocks or style variables. Please help me. Thanks in advance.
Yes - Here is how i did this before. I created a prompt page that allowed the user to pick the columns they wanted on the report via check boxes(true/false). Each check box represented a unique parameter name associated with a column you later want visible or invisible.
On the report page, the default state of the list shows all the possible columns. In order to conditionally hide the columns i created a Conditional Style(one for each column) and associated that with the list column/cell. The conditional style basically says hey if my param was not chosen false then set the "box-type to none which means it will not be rendered at all.
You do have to create a conditional style for each column, but when trying to make something flexible/dynamic and easy for the user its worth it. Mine also allowed dynamic sorting/grouping(up to 3 levels) for the same set of columns)
Thanks,
Tim

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