Dynamically Populate Listbox - Exclude Empty cells - excel

I am creating a form in excel (not a userform) and I am populating the listbox using cells. However, these cells are sometimes A1:10 and sometimes they are A1:A4. Is there a way to dynamically change what is shown in the listbox?
Right now, when I use A1:10 and there are only 4 cells populated, I get the list of 4 populated cells followed by 6 blank entries. I'd like to get rid of the 6 blanks when there are only 4.

Unfortunately, this is more of a workaround than a solution. However, it may be able to do what you need it to do. I've been hitting the same wall you are with trying to make ranges dynamic.
Without seeing some code to know exactly what you're doing, try something like this.
Private Sub ListBox1()
x = 1
'Add items to listbox until you reach an empty cell.
Do while Cells(x,1) <> ""
ListBox1.AddItem Cells(x,1)
Loop
I'm not very familiar with listboxes outside of userforms but this should do approximately what you want to do.
Edit your original post with your code so we can try and get a better understanding of what you've tried and what you're trying to do.

You can create a named range using a dynamic formula. Either of the below formulas will work.
=A1:INDEX($A$1:$A$10,MATCH("",$A$1:$A$10,0)-1)
=OFFSET($J$7,0,0,MATCH("",$J$7:$J$32,0)-1)
To create the named range, click ctrl+F3 then click new, insert one of the two options above into the "refers to:" section, then label the new range whatever you would like. in the "row source" section of the listbox simply type in the name you selected for your new named range.

Related

Can't use more than one combo box on excel

I have made two active X combo boxes for a list of 220 sites. Before making the active x combo box i have made a sheet that searches through my data and finds the sites that match with what i am typing as i go.
I then used the name manage, refering to the formula in the first cell of the list
=Sheet1!$G$2:INDEX(Sheet1!$G$2:$G$220,COUNTIF(Sheet1!$G$2:$G$220,"?*"))
I have then writen this in the ListFillRange in the properties of my combo box.
It works fine for one, but once i had made the second one and selected the site the first one will no longer let me search through.
I have used the same formulas on both but they originate from different sheets to see if this fixed the problem however that was unsuccessful. (the boxes are on different sheets) When i click on the next sheet after using the box on the first sheet, it still shows part of it as if it is crashing.
The boxes are independent so I'm not sure what to do next as i need to add another 3 on separate sheets.
I am also using this code for each box
Private Sub ComboBox1_Change()
ComboBox1.ListFillRange = "MList"
Me.ComboBox1.DropDown
End Sub
and similar for the other button but with a different range.
There is no need to use VBA for this, the Change Events specifically, if you just want to use and fill the combo boxes with Named Ranges.
The scenario I think you try to do is:
Create Named Ranges that will be the source of your combobox:
Fill the range with your data, select the range, Right Click, Select Define Name and give the range a name. MList in your case I believe.
Create Combobox:
Goto Developer Tab, Insert in your case ActiveX ComboBox, Draw it on your sheet, right click the ComboBox, select properties, find ListFillRange in properties and enter the name of the Named Range you created in step one
Repeat for Combobox 2, with the same or a different Named Range depending on what you try to do
Leave Design Mode
Boths Comboboxes can now be used to type in what you are looking for.
If this is not what you tried to do, please try edit your question and in detail try to explain what you try to do and what you like to accomplish by doing so.

Cell connected by controlsource keeps losing its formula

There are two cells in my spreadsheet, one contains input value only (let's say cell_1) and another one (cell_2) has formula referencing to the former one (=cell_1). For convenience, I also create a Userform with a Textbox whose controlsource property is linked to cell_2.
If there is no UserForm, everything works just fine. But with UserForm (shows with vbModeless) and the value in cell_1 changes (no matter it is changed via manual or another VBA subs), the formula in cell_2 will be overwritten by the value of cell_1 and the value in TextBox stops updating.
Has anyone encountered this strange thing?
ps: I've created a simple example, you can download it here
http://wikisend.com/download/192680/Control_Source_Bug_Test.xlsm
[update] 2014/11/29
Although the root cause is still unknown, I found that rowsource property of ListBox works perfectly; the formula of the cell connected by rowsource won't be affected. With proper setting it will look just like TextBox and one can use it as a replacement!
i think, you should have added your reset formula almpst everywhere.
Range("C7").Formula = "=C4"
added to the spinbuttons and also into userform textboxes.
here is same example sheet which I corrected my way and I think it works. Test and tell me if I am right.

Freezing certain cells - VBA

I have a question about freezing certain cells. But first let me explain the situation.
I have made a search box in my excel sheet and when you search for a letter or word; the results show up in cells below the search box. Now I want to freeze those cells, so that wherever I go in my sheet. I can always use the search box and see the results.
The cells for the searchbox and results are B2:B25. Those are the ones I want to freeze. Also the only sheet I want to use this on is the sheet "Reading". On the rest of my sheets I do not use a search function.
So my question(s) is : Do I need to put the code inside a module or on that sheet, and how do I do this?
Now I have tried the following
Range(Cells(2,2), Cells(25, 2)).Select
ActiveWindow(or maybe Reading?).FreezePanes = True
Inside a module. But it did not work and I do not know what else to do.
Any help is much appreciated! Since I am very new to VBA.
Almost there. Problem is that the 'range' and 'cells' needs to be directed to the 'Reading' sheet, like so:
Sheets("Reading").Range(Sheets("Reading").Cells(2,2), Sheets("Reading").Cells(25, 2)).Select
ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
but if it always is B2->B25, why not use:
Sheets("Reading").Range("B2:B25").Select
ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
This should work. Select is not very desirable, because it is very slow, but in this case, you need to (as far as I know).
EDIT
BTW, you can do this from within a code module or from within a sheet, but if you choose to do it from within a sheet, you cannot select another sheet. So just use the range.
EDIT 2
whoopsy, typo corrected. 'Sheet' should have been 'Sheets'

Excel VBA Combo box clear

I am using excel 2010.
I want to clear the content of a combo box in my sheet(clear to blank like when it's not selected), but I don't know how to select and clear. I tried to select a combo box like this:
Sheet1.ComboBox1.Clear
But no 'ComboBox' is under the Sheet1 object. The only to select my combo box is use this:
Sheet1.Shapes("Drop Down 24")
I don't know how to select and clear the content, can anyone help me?
What about
ActiveSheet.Shapes.Range(Array("Drop Down 24")).Select
With Selection
.ListFillRange = ""
End With
I assume you actually want to make the displayed value of your control blank. In that case, for a Drop Down Object, as you indicated you would do this:
Sheet1.Shapes("Drop Down 2").OLEFormat.Object.Value = 0
Where 0 indicates which element from the list is selected I.E. none.
If that doesn't work, then you're probably actually dealing with a ComboBox in which case you want to use this:
Sheet1.Shapes("Drop Down 2").OLEFormat.Object.Object.Value = ""
Note this code was created and tested in Excel 2003 (what I have on this machine) so the path to reaching the actual object might vary slightly on Excel 2010.)
As an autentic programmer I would rather prefer this way. That don't depends on excel "range memory selection" on the sheet.
Set oCombo = Sheets("SheetName").Shapes("cmbComboName").ControlFormat
For I = oCombo.ListCount To 1 Step -1
oCombo.RemoveItem (I)
Next
To reset a Drop Down List to a blank cell but still maintaining the list for future use.
Create a Macro to clear the cells. During recording simply select the cell and select "clear contents". This will set the selection to a blank cell but still keeps the drop down list in place.
It would look like this for example.
Range("H3").Select
Selection.ClearContents

Excel combobox listfillrange property pointing at a formula-based named range has issues

ActiveX combobox objects in Excel do not behave well when their ListFillRange refers to a formula-based Named Range (Defined Name).
I think I have encountered other errors and possibly even Excel crashes thanks to this, but right now all that happens is the combobox_change() event is triggered anytime ANY cell in the workbook is changed.
I am not sure if this is really a bug, or if there is a fix, or a workaround. If it is a bug, how do I report it to the Excel people?
And finally, the real meat of my question is "How do I work around this issue best?" I would like to have some formula-based named ranges, but it seems like this won't be possible.
To reproduce this bug, do the following:
Create a new workbook. On Sheet3, create a small table 3 columns across, and several rows high.
Create a named range with this formula (or an equivalent): =OFFSET(Sheet3!$A$2:$C$36,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet3!$A:$A),COUNTA(Sheet3!$4:$4)) To do this use Input>Name>Define. Name the range something like "demoRange"
Go to Sheet1 and create a combobox, (it must be on a separate sheet). (Use the Control Toolbox menu, not the Forms menu).
Click on the Design Mode button (the blue triangle with pencil), then right click on the combo box and go to Properties.
In the properties window for the combobox, change the ListFillRange property so that it points at the named range you created in step 2 ("demoRange").
You may want to change the ColumnCount property to 3, and the ColumnWidths property to "50,50,50"
Set the linkedCell property to cell "A1" by typing A1 in the linkedCell property.
Close the properties window, and double click on the combobox to define its change() event.
Put a Debug.Assert(false) or Msgbox("demo") line in the subroutine for the new combobox's change event.
Exit design mode
important - Now select an item in the combobox. The event should trigger normally the first time. (The bug will not show if you don't do this step--something must be selected in the combobox)
Edit cells anywhere in the workbook [Edit] or any other open workbook [/edit], on any sheet and any location. Each time you edit any cell, (at least for me), the onchange event for the combo box is run.
Again, is this normal, and what is the best alternative for what I am doing? This combo box gets linked to various cells, and is supposed to be a replacement for the tiny font in the data validation dropdowns excel provides by default.
My advice is to never use ListFillRange and LinkedCell. They are just trouble. Fill your listbox with List and use the Change event to write to the cell. Somewhere, maybe the Workbook_Open event, fill the listbox
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Sheet2.ListBox1.Clear
Sheet2.ListBox1.List = Sheet1.Range("demoRange").Value
End Sub
Then in the change event in the Sheet2 module, check that something was clicked and write it to the cell
Private Sub ListBox1_Change()
If Me.ListBox1.ListIndex >= 0 Then
Sheet2.Range("A1").Value = Me.ListBox1.Value
End If
End Sub
I have a few options available that I am aware of thus far. The best I can come up with is this:
Avoid directly using formula-based named ranges. Instead, define a subroutine that will check whether the defined range "demoRange" should be changed from what its current value is. Run this subroutine on the workbook_open and sheet3_deactivate events. If needed, prompt the user to ask if it's all right to update the named range. [edit] The macro that updates "demoRange" could probably just copy from a "demoRange_FormulaBased" named range into "demoRange" which would be static. [/edit]
This solution works well because you can keep using the linkedcell property, you don't have to use VBA to populate the comboboxes, and the named range can still be used for whatever other purposes it already had. Avoid using the onchange event to run this new subroutine, since it might end up being triggered thousands of times if a user opens the Find/Replace dialog and chooses "Replace All".

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