Updating cell data based on dropdown list in Google Sheets - text

This is probably a silly question but I have looked around for a while now and I'm not finding exactly what I need.
In sheet 2, I have a list of items down column A. Then I have text next to those items in column B. Text in B3 is only related to A3 etc.
I have a dropdown list of all column A item names on sheet1 and I'd like a cell somewhere on this sheet to display the corresponding info/text depending on whatever item I chose from the dropdown list.
For example, if I had small stories that would pop up depending on the title of the story - I'd select "Red Riding Hood" from the drop down list and then the short story would populate into a designated cell.
I feel like this should be pretty straight forward but I couldn't find the right formula. Thank you for your help.

This can be done with a lookup formula, for example Vlookup. On sheet1, select the story title in A1, then use this formula in B1 to show the text
=vlookup(A1,Sheet2!$A:$B,2,false)
The story will now show in the cell with the formula. You can copy the formula down and select different titles in A2, A3, etc.

Related

How do you make a dropdown selection return a cell text based on "yes" values in other cell?

I have the following data:
- Article Excerpts in Column D (D4:D1000)
- Topics in cells AE3:AU3
- Either "Yes" or "No" in every cell under the AC:AS columns (AE4:AU1000), based on whether the Article Excerpt in that row includes a keyword related to the header topic in each column.
I am looking for a way to create a Dropdown from which I could select a Topic and have all the Article Excerpts that are marked as "Yes" (in the relevant Topics column in the AE:AU range) show one under the other in the column next to the Dropdown.
Example:
I select Productivity (Topic) from the Dropdown in cell A4 and B4:B10 returns the 7 Article Excerpts that are marked as "Yes" under the Productivity header (AJ Column).
Hopefully that makes sense and is possible..
P.S. Looking for guidance for this to be used on either Excel or Sheets, doesn't matter which.
Edit: Sharing a link to a Google Sheet sample but again, guidance on either Excel of Sheets would be equally helpful. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tCijce7F7H6zs-8VFzJX4A5Jy8IJ8focadj754XGIIg/edit?usp=sharing
Right so just to not leave this open, I ended up solving this on my own by researching the web and combining a couple of formulas.
I created a new sheet ("Search Tab") with a dropdown menu (data validation) in A2, that is based on the Topics columns headers. All the actual "raw" data is now in a separate sheet named "All Data".
In the Search Tab, in Cell A5, I entered this formula:
=filter('All Data'!D4:D1000,(offset('All Data'!AE3,1,match($A2,'All Data'!$AE$3:AU$3,0)-1,997,1))="yes")
This basically filters the cells in column D that are in the same rows as cells that have the text "yes" in a specific Topics column (range AE4:AU1000) that matches the text selected in the dropdown menu in Cell A2.
It was very confusing to write so I can imagine it must be confusing to read, and not really sure how many people will come across such a need, but didn't want to leave this unresolved.

Excel - Link a drop down menu to affect an adjacent cell

Hopefully this is an easy one. Basically I have a list of item numbers as well as a list of their descriptions in the adjacent column, (Call it "Item numbers" from A1 to A20 and "Item Description" from B1 to B20). So I have created a drop down for the Descriptions in column B and I want it to automatically fill in the correct Item Number in the adjacent cell in column A. So i have created a separate table with the corresponding Item Numbers and Descriptions next to each other. Yet, I can't seem to get a proper formula to reference the original A and B columns. My research said the Index formula could do it, but I'm not sure. Furthermore, I'm open to a more simpler way as well.
Thank you for any help
I thought you could do this with a VLOOKUP, but it can only be used to search in the first column (A). So you have to combine INDEX and MATCH:
=INDEX($A$1:$A$20, MATCH(E11, $B$1:$B$20, 0))
where E11 is the cell with the dropdown.

Row Number In Formula Not Counting When I Drag

I have the formula below that I'm using to link to a certain sheet and cell in my workbook that contains a graph for each entry. On the sheet I link too, each graph is about 20 cells down from the previous one. I have over a 100 graphs now and it will grow in time so I was trying to use the HYPERLINK formula rather than the Hyperlink button for this. I thought I would be able to just insert the formula in the first row, paste it in the second row with an added 20 cells, highlight the two and drag it down but it will not count in increments of 20.
Is this even possible?
=HYPERLINK("#'Trends'!A25","Click To View Trend")
I'm thinking you will have to use some type of concatenation to get the behavior you are after. To do this, you may want to employ a "helper" column. For example, put the "numbers" you are after in column B -- below you will see that I incremented it by 5.
Now your HYPERLINK formula in cell A1 is written as:
=HYPERLINK("[Book1]Sheet2!A"& B1,"Click Me for Sheet2, Cell A"&B1)
(Assuming the workbook is called Book1. Now, I can drag that formula down and it will update "dynamically" to account for the changes in column B.

How to use cell value as worksheet name in another workbook using the vlookup function?

I have two separate workbooks, one called Form.xlsx and one called Database.xlsx. While in Form.xlsx the user will select a value from a dropdown in cell C3. I would like for the value to then be used as the Worksheet name in the Database.xlsx workbook.
For Example:
The C3 drop down list will be:
Florida
Ohio
Indiana
When a user selects say Florida from the dropdown, I would then like for that value to be plugged into a vlookup statement as the worksheet name like:
=vlookup(C3,'C:\Users\Williasa\[Database.xlsx]Florida!$B$4:$F$6,5,FALSE)
Is there any way that I can do that? If possible I would like to stay away from a INDIRECT statement since the Database.xlsx workbook will not be open when users are using the Form.xlsx.strong text
EDIT
I feel like I need to clarify something here.
On the Form is another drop-down criteria with 3 options in it in cell B14:
Fax
Email
Phone
I would like the vlookup to first take me to the correct worksheet defined by cell C3 (Florida, Ohio, or Indiana), search A7:A9 for the B14 drop-down value that matches, then bring in the cell value of B7:B9 to the original cell where I am running this formula.
I apologize if I am using incorrect wording, trying my best to explain it!
If the drop-down list is small and constant or changes rarely, you could do something like:
CHOOSE(X,'C:\Users\Williasa\[Database.xlsx]Florida'!$B$4:$F$6, 'C:\Users\Williasa\[Database.xlsx]Ohio'!$B$4:$F$6, 'C:\Users\Williasa\[Database.xlsx]Indiana'!$B$4:$F$6)
Where X is a formula equal to the index of the dropdown choice (so 1 for Florida).

Find and count each occurence of a name is column A then read a value from column B

I need a formula that is beyond me and my Excel skills, I need to insert the number of times a match is found in column A into column C and then insert the total number of days for that person in column D. Can anyone help?
In cell C2:
=COUNTIF(A$2:A$6,A2)
In cell D2:
=SUMIF(A$2:A$6,A2,B$2:B$6)
See also:
COUNTIF
SUMIF
Have you considered using a pivot table? It's a little bit overkill but greatly simplifies what you want to do. Assuming your using Excel 2007:
Select the range of data including column labels.
Go to Insert->[Tables]->PivotTable.
In the dialog box that appears, select Existing Worksheet, choose a cell a click OK.
At this point, the PivotTable pane appears with your field names in one box and four other labeled boxes below.
Drag Name to the Row Labels box.
Drag Name to the Values box.
Drag Days to the Values box.
You're done!

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