Tutorial—In-cell Dropdown List with Challenge
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Transcript of Tutorial—In-cell Dropdown List with Challenge
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
Creating an In-cell Dropdown List in Microsoft ExcelFebruary 16, 2011
Overview
We will create an in-cell dropdown list to select a particular month
An in-cell dropdown list is a great way to provide interactivity to an ordinary spreadsheet
You can make decisions within the spreadsheet based on selections from the dropdown list
This quick tutorial will show you how to create an in-cell dropdown list box in Microsoft Excel 2007
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
Data Validation at Work
Click on cell C3 Click Data from the main menu Under the Data ribbon, click Data
Validation– (If a dropdown menu appears, click Data
Validation again)
Validation may show up in a different location under the Data ribbon on your system
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Create the List
Under the Setting tab, select List from the Allow dropdown list
Uncheck Ignore blank– Keep In-cell dropdown selected
In the Source box, enter the months Click OK once you are done
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
Your In-cell Dropdown List is Now Created
Selecting a Month Click in cell C3, where you created the dropdown list Click on the down arrow after clicking C3 Select a month from the list– You can also type in a month directly, but it has to be on the list;
otherwise, you will get an error
An in-cell dropdown list loses its dropdown arrow once the cell loses focus
You can regain the dropdown arrow for reselection by clicking back into the cell with the data validation cell set
It is a good idea to format in-cell dropdowns with a different style from ordinary cells
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
Using a Range for an In-cell Dropdown List
Cell Range as a List
In cell A3, type "Jan" and press Enter or Return Click on cell A3
(A thick border should surround the cell with a square on the lower-right edge)
Hover over the square until your mouse turns into a plus sign
Click and drag down about 12 rows(You should stop when you see Dec)– If auto fill does not work for you, just type in the
twelve months yourself
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Define a Name through the Name Box
With the list of months selected, enter "Months" in the Name Box and press Enter– A3 through A14 can now be referred to as Months
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
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Define the Range through a Dialog Box
Select cells A3 to A14 and right-click on the range From the short-cut menu, select Name a Range In the New Name dialog box, enter "Months" as the
name Press OK
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Reference the Named Range through Validation
Click in cell C3 Open the Data Validation dialog box Enter "=Months" as the Source and press OK
Your dropdown list know refers to what ever is in cells A3 to A14
This also means you can change a value in a cell in the Months range and it gets updated automatically in the dropdown list
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End Notes
From here, you can have other elements of your sheet update automatically based on a user's selection
There are many other ways to provide interactivity in Microsoft Excel
The in-cell dropdown list box provides a mechanism for users to control how other elements of a spreadsheet operate and interact with each other
You can also set custom error messages if the user enters an invalid selection
Check out the challenge on the next page…
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
The Challenge
Create a chart that updates automatically when a user selects a choice from a dropdown list
Check out the work through of this challenge at the following location
http://www.techronology.com/index.php?pageID=007002&lessonID=excel0002&lessonType=pres
Copyright © 2011 Techronology. All rights reserved.
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