Excel - dependent dropdowns using indirect function - excel

I have created dependent dropdown using indirect function and data validation using which i have to create dynamic charts.
Whenever i am selecting an option in the first dropdown, the values gets updated accordingly but i need to click on the second dropdown to view the related options.
For example:
The first dropdown contains fruits, vegetables and colors. I have selected fruits first and the options are banana, apple, mango. I select mango in the second dropdown. Now, when i am selecting colors in the first dropdown, the second dropdown still shows mango, until i click on it and see various 'colors'(red, yellow, green) option.
Is there a way so that the first option in colors(red) appears in the second dropdown as soon as i select colors in the first dropdown?
I am using indirect of the cell link for dependent dropdowns.
Please suggest answers without VBA

I don't think you can achieve this W/O VBA help. If you wish to consider VBA approach, then please paste this code in you Worksheet module of sheet where you have data validation.
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Not Application.Intersect(Range("A1"), Target) Is Nothing Then
Dim x As String, y As String
x = Range("A1").Value
y = Application.WorksheetFunction.VLookup(x, Range("A11:B13"), 2, False)
Range("B1").Value = y
End If
End Sub
This assumes that you have your data validations in Cells A1 and B1. you will need to add one simple lookup table (A11:B13 in my example) where you will put name of category in A column and related first value in B. column.
Worksheet_Change event will trigger only when cell A1 change its value.

Related

How to create a filtered drop down list based on multiple criteria

on the below Schedule image I am trying to create a Drop Down List in the "Gland (A)" Column. Rather than just creating a list of all available "Glands" I want that list to be filtered based on the data within "CORES / PAIRS", "SIZE mm" and "CABLE TYPE". For this example we will use a "3c 16 BS5467, XLPE/SWA/PVC".
Schedule
To determine the filter for the list, the "ID Ø (mm)" and "OD Ø (mm)" for the select cable need to be taken in to consideration, see Cables image below. As you can see for the example we are using the cable has an "ID" of 15.5 and "OD" of 20.35.
Cables
Finally seen below in the Glands image, the "ID" from above needs to be within the "INNER MIN/MAX" and the "OD" needs to be within the "OUTER MIN/MAX".
Glands
So back to the first image in the "GLAND (A)" columns for row 4 the drop down list should be filtered and only show concatenated values:
151/RAC/B/M25
501/453/UNIV/B/M25
ICG/653/UNIV/B/M25
In two separate formulas I managed to VLOOKUP just the "OD" based on the cable types:
=VLOOKUP(B4&C4&E4,'Cables'!A$2:H$169,8,FALSE)
Then based on the retrieved value LOOKUP the "GLAND SIZE" from within the "OUTER MIN/MAX":
=LOOKUP(2,1/((F4>='Glands'!E$3:E$9 + 1)*(F4<='Glands'!F$3:F$9 - 1)),'Glands'!B$3:B$9)
The problem is I don't know how to include checking the "ID" as well, also to retrieve concatenated cells ("GLAND TYPE" and "GLAND SIZE") and then for them to be a Data Validation Drop Down List.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Ok, this is going to be hard to explain. I'll do my best. Maybe if we wrap this up in a dedicated sheet we won't make mistakes.
PHASE 1: create a new sheet.
Create a new sheet and name it "Calculations". We will put most of the stuff here. First of all we type "Selected row in Schedule" in the cell A1.
PHASE 2: determine what cable number is selected.
Since we have multiple entry of cable in the Schedule sheet, we will need multiple list of possible glades. Creating a dedicated list for each lane or costraining the user freedom would be unpractical. Therefore we need to know what row the user is selecting in the Schedule sheet. We have to use VBA. Right-click on the Schedule sheet name tag and click on "View code". Copy-paste this code in the window that has appeared:
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
'Filling the cell A2 in the sheet Calculation with the row number of the selected _
cell in the scheet Schedule.
Sheets("Calculations").Range("A2").Value = ActiveCell.Row
'Preventing multiple selection in the F column of the sheet Schedule.
If Not Application.Intersect(Target, Range("F:F")) Is Nothing Then
Target.Resize(1, 1).Select
End If
End Sub
This code will report in the cell A2 of the sheet Calculation the row number actually selected in the sheet Schedule. Everytime the selection is changed, the value changes. It also prevent the selection of multiple rows of the F column in Schedule sheet (the column where Glades dropdown list will be placed). You can test the code by changing the selection in the Schedule sheet and looking at the result in Calculations sheet.
PHASE 3: determine what type of cable is selected and its ID/OD.
In the Calculation sheet, type "Selected cable" in range B1. In range B2 type this formula:
=INDEX(Schedule!$A:$F,Calculations!$A$2,2)&INDEX(Schedule!$A:$F,Calculations!$A$2,3)&INDEX(Schedule!$A:$F,Calculations!$A$2,5)
This formula reconstruct the name we will search in the LOOKUP column of the Cables sheet. It's a series of INDEX functions, nothing really complicated.
Now that we know what to look for, we can extract its ID/OD. Type "ID" in the cell C1 and "OD" in cell D1. In cell C2 type this formula:
=VLOOKUP($B$2,Cables!$A:$H,7,FALSE)
In cell D2 type this formula:
=VLOOKUP($B$2,Cables!$A:$H,8,FALSE)
These formulas will search the cables' list in the Cables sheet and extract the ID/OD of the given one.
PHASE 4: create the filtered list.
Your glands' list has its first gland in the third row. So just to make it easier to crosscheck the data, we will place our formulas accordingly. In sheet Calculations type "List stage 1" in cell E2. In cell E3 type this formula:
=IF(AND(C$2>=Glands!C3,C$2<=Glands!D3,D$2>=Glands!E3,D$2<=Glands!F3),ROW(),"")
Drag it all the way down until it will be cover the same number of rows of the glands' list in the Gland sheet. This formula will "highlight" in what rows are the glands we are looking for (if there are any). At this point the list is very long, unsorted and presumably has a lot of blank cells. We need to sort it. In cell F2 type "List stage 2". In cell F3 type this formula:
=IF.ERROR(SMALL(E:E,ROW()-ROW(F$2)),"")
Drag this one down just like the previous one. Now we have a compact list of numbers. We need to translate them into glade's names. In cell G2 type "Filtered gland list". In cell G3 type this formula:
=IF.ERRORE(INDEX(Glands!A:B,F3,1)&"/"&INDEX(Glands!A:B,F3,2),"")
Drag it down again like previously did. We have our list.
PHASE 5: name the list.
We need to create a dynamic reference to the list to cut out all the blank cells. Define a new name calling it Gland_Filtered_List referred to this formula:
=INDIRECT("Calculations!$G$3:G" & ROWS(Calculations!$G$3:$G$1048576) -COUNT.BLANK(Calculations!$G$3:$G$1048576)+2)
PHASE 6: insert data validation.
In the Schedule sheet, create a data validation for the glands column using the list mode and Gland_Filtered_List as origin.
That should do the trick. Right now i have to hurry for work, so i can't check the explanation. Everything should be in order. Try this and ask any question. I'll answer later.

Excel code to link range cells' colour into another

I am building a residential stacking plan in which each cell = unit type with specific color given conditional formatting.
2 tables follow below for each unit reflect a sqm size and a $ value.
I need to reflect only the cells' color into the following tables.
I need a dynamic solution and would prefer avoiding vba (since I'm not proficient), but will use if necessary. Thanks in advance!
Find Image HERE
Set up your Conditional formatting as normal on the first table like this:
Note my table starts at cell C4 but yours is in a different place and should be adjusted accordingly. make sure you DON'T have the $ symbol on the formula in the rule but you do have it on the 'Applies to' section
Now copy and paste this formatting onto the second table.
Finally edit the formulas in the conditional formatting so that they point to the starting cell of the FIRST table. It should look like this:
Note that the formatting 'Applies to' the second table but refers in the Formula to the values in the first table.
The result is this:
You can repeat this for other tables if you need to.
As you are working in Excel 2003(!), follow the following steps:
Select the cells in the second table.
In the menu, choose Format - Conditional Formatting.
In the Conditional Formatting box, choose Formula Is.
In the text box, enter the cell reference of the FIRST table (eg C4="4+"), do not enter any $ symbols.
Click the Format button and select the background fill to match the one in the first table.
Add the other conditions in the same way by clicking the Add>> button.
If you change the color code values (B21:B26) from 2 rooms to 2 (to match your second table), the following should do the trick. Basically, this code is not using conditional formating. Getting the color from conditional formating can be somewhat laborious and tricky (google "excel vba find color conditional formatting"). Instead, the present code reads the color in your Color Code cells, and apply it to the other two ranges.
Private Sub BckgndColor()
Dim ColorCodeRange As Range
Dim NoOfRooms As Range
Dim CellColorIndex As Integer
Dim c As Range
Dim d As Object
Set ColorCodeRange = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("B21:B26")
Set d = CreateObject("scripting.dictionary")
'Add the pairs (value, color) to dictionary
For Each c In ColorCodeRange.Cells
d.Add c.Value, c.Interior.ColorIndex
Next
Set NoOfRooms = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("M25:V36") 'Here the range of Table 2 (M25:V36 in your example)
'Scan range, and assign color
For Each c In NoOfRooms.Cells
If d.Exists(c.Value) Then
c.Interior.ColorIndex = d(c.Value)
c.Offset(16, 0).Interior.ColorIndex = d(c.Value) 'If Table 3 is always 16 rows down, this shoud work
End If
Next
Set d = Nothing
End Sub
I gave the option data validation list in sheet 2, while I selecting the option by list the cells will change . for that cells I want to get color also from source table in sheet1 to sheet2 .

many buttons (userform) control a single macro opens a different userforms depending on selection

I have created small excel form for updating a database. works great, though staff are doing odd things and have to replace the excel weekly with a clean version. So I am thinking of creating userforms that update the excel sheet(DutySelection).
I have many buttons (userform) A4:A31 that will control a single macro which opens 3 different userforms depending on B4:B31 dropdown list selection
Currently My code only works from B4 no matter which button i click.
EG: B4 selection Start, the Start form opens. B6 selection Finish, the Start form opens
Sub Duty()
If Sheets("DutySelection").Range("B4,B31") = "Start" Then
frmStart.Show
ElseIf Sheets("DutySelection").Range("B4,B31") = "Duty Type" Then
ReportUpdate.Show
Else: Sheets("DutySelection").Range("B4,B31") = "Finish" 'Then
frmFinish.Show
End If
End Sub
I am thinking that i am missing a line or two but just can not find what i am needing online
Sheet.Range("B4,B31") doesn't return what you think it does: it returns a composite range consisting of 2 areas, area 1 being cell B4 and area 2 being cell B31. I.e., the same as you would get when you select cell B4, then Ctrl-Clicked cell B31.
I think you meant "B4:B31", but this also returns something else: an array filled with (the values of) all cells in the range B4 to B31. You cannot compare it with a text string just like that.
What you do want here is to loop through all cells between B4 and B31, then compare their values to the texts you're interested in.
Another issue is that your code only ever acts upon the first text it matches. So, if cell B4 contains "Start", then there's no way the ElseIf will ever be evaluated, not even if cell B5 contains "Duty Type". The best way to deal with this depends on how you get those texts in column B on your sheet.
If I understood you correctly, you have a button in each row next to column B and clicking it invokes the action selected in column B in the corresponsing row, right?
In that case I would suggest that you place 3 buttons next to each other that invoke 3 different macros.
Greetings,
vat

how do i set a value to a range using a function from module in excel vba?

i want to do a simple function in a module in excel vba,
so i can use it as a custom function in excel.
(i use excel 2003, or 2007 , it's doesnt matter)
i create a function(!) in a new workbook and it's looks like this:
Function a()
Sheets(1).Range("A1").Value = 4
end function
but when i try to use it on the sheet1 it's wont work!
i tried many things.
how can i make this work (with no workarounds, i want to use it as a custom function) ?
please help.
thanks,
gadym
A function that uses other cells cannot become a formula function (UDF) in Excel, because it breaks Excel's dependency model (all cell dependencies must be explicit in the formula). However a formula can use cell values as inputs.
Here is a simple function added to a module in VBA:
Public Function testFunction(inputValue As Integer) As Integer
testFunction = inputValue * 2
End Function
This can be used in any cell formula. For example, =testFunction(4) or =testFunction(A5).
EDIT
Okay, reviewing the comment you made against guitarthrower's answer. A formula can only send an answer to the cell it is in - it cannot send an answer to a different cell. Therefore, if a formula is your only choice, you must have a formula in cell A1 that reads input from C1.
Formula in A1:
=a(C1)
Function in module:
Public Function a(string col)
a = iif(col = "ok", "1", "2")
End Function
However, if there is a problem putting a formula into A1, you are left with a manually driven process (a sheet button, a toolbar button etc. to push these values) or a worksheet cell change event. The downside of a worksheet event is that it fires off every single cell change, so you need to keep the code light and not do any heavy duty work - or if you do, make it rare.
You would add a new subroutine to the worksheet:
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
This is fired whenever cells are changed; the changed cells are indicated by the Target range. Your code would update A column cells if the Target contained C column cells. This is more work than the formula approach, but it does render the process entirely automatic. I have no access to Excel right now so the following is just from memory and Googled fragments, untested:
For Each cCell In Application.Intersect(Target, Me.Range("C1:C5"))
cCell.Offset(, -2).Value = iif(cCell.Value = "ok", "1", "2")
I would prefer not to use explicit ranges, but rather a named range as it makes your code less fragile to change. But that would make finding the corresponding A column cell a little more tricky to determine and I'm not going to attempt that code without Excel to hand =)
It looks like you're trying to programatically change the value of an cell within your spreadsheet. This can be done, but as Joel Goodwin pointed out, this can't be done with a "User-Defined Function." However, you can do this with a macro or by adding a button to the sheet and putting code in the button.
For example, add a button to your sheet by going to View > Toolbars > Control Toolbox (this will be different for newer versions of Excel) and selecting the button control and adding it to your sheet. Once the button is added, double click on it. This should bring up the Visual Basic editor. Put your code in the body of the Sub that it provides, like this:
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Sheets(1).Range("A1").Value = 4
End Sub
Go back to your worksheet and disable design mode in the control toolbox (it's the icon with the light blue triangle in it). With design mode disabled, click the button and the value of cell A1 will change to 4.
If cell A1 contains the formula =a(), and you want A1 to show 4 (or any other cell with the formula =a() in it) then you need to change your code to this:
Function a()
a = 4
End Function

Excel charts - setting series end dynamically

I've got a spreadsheet with plenty of graphs in it and one sheet with loads of data feeding those graphs.
I've plotted the data on each graph using
=Sheet1!$C5:$C$3000
This basically just plots the values in C5 to C3000 on a graph.
Regularly though I just want to look at a subset of the data i.e. I might just want to look at the first 1000 rows for example. Currently to do this I have to modify the formula in each of my graphs which takes time.
Would you know a way to simplify this? Ideally if I could just have a cell on single sheet that it reads in the row number from and plots all the graphs from C5 to C 'row number' would be best.
Any help would be much appreciated.
OK, I had to do a little more research, here's how to make it work,
completely within the spreadsheet (without VBA):
Using A1 as the end of your desired range,
and the chart being on the same sheet as the data:
Name the first cell of the data (C5) as a named range, say TESTRANGE.
Created a named range MYDATA as the following formula:
=OFFSET(TESTRANGE, 0, 0, Sheet1!$A$1, 1)
Now, go to the SERIES tab of the chart SOURCE DATA dialog,
and change your VALUES statement to:
=Sheet1!MYDATA
Now everytime you change the A1 cell value, it'll change the chart.
Thanks to Robert Mearns for catching the flaws in my previous answer.
This can be achieved in two steps:
Create a dynamic named range
Add some VBA code to update the charts data source to the named range
Create a dynamic named Range
Enter the number of rows in your data range into a cell on your data sheet.
Create a named range on your data sheet (Insert - Name - Define) called MyRange that has a formula similar this:
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,Sheet1!$D$1,3)
Update the formula to match your layout
Sheet1!$A$1 set this to the top left hand side of your data range
Sheet1!$D$1 set this to the cell containing the number of rows
3 set this value to the number of columns
Test that the named range is working:
Select the dropdown menus Edit - Go To, type MyRange into the reference field.
Your data area for the chart should be selected.
Add some VBA code
Open the VBA IDE (Alt-F11)
Select Sheet1 in the VBAProject window and insert this code
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Target.Address <> "$D$1" Then Exit Sub
'Change $D$1 to the cell where you have entered the number of rows
'When the sheet changes, code checks to see if the cell $D$1 has changed
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects(1).Chart.SetSourceData _
Source:=ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("MyRange")
' ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Chart1").SetSourceData _
Source:=ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("MyRange")
'The first line of code assumes that chart is embedded into Sheet1
'The second line assumes that the chart is in its own chart sheet
'Uncomment and change as required
'Add more code here to update all the other charts
End Sub
Things to watch for
Do not directly use the named range as the data source for the chart. If you enter the named range "MyRange" as the Source Data - Data Range for the chart, Excel will automatically convert the named range into an actual range. Any future changes to your named range will therefore not update your chart.
Performance might be impacted by the approaches listed above.
The OFFSET function in the named range is "volatile" which means that it recalculates whenever any cell in the workbook calculates. If performance is an issue, replace it with the INDEX formula.
=Sheet1!$A$1:INDEX(Sheet1!$1:$65536,Sheet1!$D$1,2)
The code fires everytime data is changed on Sheet1. If performance is an issue, change the code to run only when requested (i.e. via a button or menu).
You could look at dynamic ranges. If you use the OFFSET function, you can specify a starting cell and the number of rows and columns to select. This site has some useful information about assigning a name to an OFFSET range.
You can set the range for a chart dynamically in Excel. You can use something like the following VBA code to do it:
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target as Range)
Select Case Target
Case Cells(14, 2)
Sheet1.ChartObjects(1).Chart.SetSourceData Range("$C5:$C$" & Cells(14,2))
...
End Select
End Sub
In this case, the cell containing the number of the last row to include is B14 (remember row first when referring to the Cells object). You could also use a variable instead of the Cells reference if you wanted to do this entirely in code. (This works in both 2007 and 2003.) You can assign this procedure to a button and click it to refresh your chart once you update the cell containing the last row.
However, this may not be precisely what you want to do ... I am not aware of a way to use a formula directly within a chart to specify source data.
Edit: And as PConroy points out in a comment, you could put this code in the Change event for that worksheet, so that neither a button nor a key combination is necessary to run the code. You can also add code so that it updates each chart only when the matching cell is edited.
I've updated the example above to reflect this.
+1s for the name solution.
Note that names don't really really reference ranges, they reference formulae. That's why you can set a name to something like "=OFFSET(...)" or "=COUNT(...)". You can create named constants, just make the name reference something like "=42".
Named formulae and array formulae are the two worksheet techniques that I find myself applying to not-quite-power-user worksheets over and over again.
An easy way to do this is to just hide the rows/columns you don't want included - when you go to the graph it automatically excludes the hidden rows/columns
Enhancing the answer of #Robert Mearns, here's how to use dynamic cells ranges for graphs using only the Excel's formulas (no VBA required):
Create a dynamic named Range
Say you have 3 columns like:
A5 | Time | Data1 | Data2 |
A6 | 00:00 | 123123 | 234234 |
...
A3000 | 16:54 | 678678 | 987987 |
Now, the range of your data may change according to the data you may have, like you have 20 rows of data, 3000 rows of data or even 25000 rows of data. You want to have a graph that will be updated automatically without the need to re-set the range of your data every time you update the data itself.
Here's how to do it simply:
Define another cell that it's value will have the number of the occupied cells with data, and put the formula =COUNTIF(A:A,"<>"&"") in it. For example, this will be in cell D1.
Go to "Formulas" tab -> "Define Name" to define a name range.
In the "New Name" window:
i. Give your data range a name, like DataRange for example.
ii. In the "Refers to" set the formula to: =OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1, 0, 0,Sheet1!$D$1,3),
where:
Sheet1!$A$1 => Reference: is the Reference from which you want to base the offset.
0 => Rows: is the number of rows, up or down, that you want the upper-left cell of the results to refer to.
0 => Columns: is the number of columns, to the left or right, that you want the upper-left cell of the results to refer to.
Sheet1!$D$1 => Height: is the height, in number of rows, that you want the result to be.
3 => Width: is the width, in number of columns, that you want the result to be.
Add a Graph, and in the "Select Data Source" window, in the Chart data range, insert the formula as you created. For the example: =Sheet1!DataRange
The Cons: If you directly use the named range as the data source for the chart, Excel will automatically convert the named range into an actual range. Any future changes to your named range will therefore not update your chart.
For that you need to edit the chart and re-set the range to =Sheet1!DataRange every time. This may not be so usable, but it's better than editing the range manually...

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