Question

Excel VBA programatic drop down list

Asked by: tmonteit

I'm using MS Excel 2003.

I want to programatically add a drop down list to a cell.
   DROP DOWN:  ("RED", "AMBER", "GREEN")
   DROP DOWN:  ("HIGH", "MEDIUM", "LOW")

I'm testing 2 conditions when I enter the worksheet.  Depending on the condition, I want a dropdown list in a given cell.

Pseudo Code:  Cell.Offset(0,2)."Add Drop Down", { Red, Amber, Green}

Looking for simple example at beginner level.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2007-10-18 at 20:32:17ID22903682
Tags

excel

,

vba

,

list

,

down

,

drop

Topics

VB Script

,

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
6

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Programatically add new line
    I know you can add a new line by pressing Alt + Enter keys. But is there any way to programatically add a new line when you hit just the Enter key? Thanks, Tam
  2. remove VBA programatically?
    Dear Experts, I want to offer an .xls for download. Before the end user touches it, it is opened programatically so it can run it's VBA to load itself with data, save itself, and close. (I know how to do this because I ASK THE EXPERTS!) I'd like to take that one step furt...
  3. excel vba code programatically
    Hello Experts, I had a problem with my excel file before: Error: Programatic access to visual basic project is not trusted. I got the answer for the above problem. Tools--->Options--->Security--->Macro Security-->Trusted publishers---->Check the checkbox Tr...
  4. Can You Create VBA Modules Programatically?
    Is it possible to insert a module into a project programatically, e.g., from VBA code? Reason: I need to create a copy programatically of a workbook a user has created that uses UDF function calls to functions in an XLA, to send to others who may not have the xla installed. ...
  5. Programatically Select Entire Row In Excel
    I am interested in programatically selecting an entire row in Excel, so that it is clear that it is selected. It is important that when a user types to edit, the originally clicked cell is the one to recieve the new value. For example, if a user clicks cell E11 with the mouse...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: roos01Posted on 2007-10-18 at 22:02:19ID: 20106753

Did you try to work wwith validaiton lists?
Asume thie following:
1. Value which results in different list value = Cell A1
2. you have 2 list, use defined name like: COLOR and SEVERITY
3. create these defined lists
4. asume that you need in cell B1 the dropdown
5. select B1: from menu: Data>>Validation>>Allow List
6. Enter the formula: =IFA1=1,COOR,SEVERITY)

now if A1 contains a 1 then  the colors are shown, otherwise the HIGH, MEDIUM and low will be shown.

I hope this works for you
regards,
Jeroen

 

by: grendel777Posted on 2007-10-18 at 22:07:24ID: 20106764

Hello tmonteit,

You can use the following code in the "Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)" worksheet procedure.  This sub fires when you change a cell (type something in and press <Enter> or otherwise leave the cell), and it gives you the address of the cell that was changed.

Code in there will fire every time you change any cell, but we can tell it that we're only interested in certain cells changing; for example, say you want to type "colors" or "volume" in cell A1 to get one of the drow-down menus you mention above to appear in cell C1:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Target.Address = "$A$1" Then
'If it wasn't cell A1 that was changed, the rest is ignored
    Target.Offset(0, 2).Select
    With Selection.Validation
        .Delete
            If Target = "colors" then
                .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
                xlBetween, Formula1:="Red,Amber,Green"
            Else
                .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
                xlBetween, Formula1:="High,Med,Low"
            End If
            .IgnoreBlank = True
            .InCellDropdown = True
            .InputTitle = ""
            .ErrorTitle = ""
            .InputMessage = ""
            .ErrorMessage = ""
            .ShowInput = True
            .ShowError = True
        End With
    End If
End Sub

Hope that helps!

 

by: roos01Posted on 2007-10-19 at 00:39:43ID: 20107156

try this one:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
Set rg = Intersect(Target, Range("A1"))
If rg Is Nothing Then Exit Sub

'If it wasn't cell A1 that was changed, the rest is ignored
    'Target.Offset(0, 2).Select
    With [C1].Validation
        .Delete
        Select Case UCase(Target)
        Case "COLORS"
                .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
                xlBetween, Formula1:="Red,Amber,Green"
        Case "SEVERITY"
                .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
                xlBetween, Formula1:="High,Med,Low"
        End Select
            .IgnoreBlank = True
            .InCellDropdown = True
            .InputTitle = ""
            .ErrorTitle = ""
            .InputMessage = ""
            .ErrorMessage = ""
            .ShowInput = True
            .ShowError = True
        End With
    'End If
End Sub

gots triggered  on words in cell A1: COLOR or severity

regards,
Jeroen

 

by: roos01Posted on 2007-10-19 at 00:42:25ID: 20107166

found an error when you enter something not corresponding the values
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
Set rg = Intersect(Target, Range("A1"))
If rg Is Nothing Then Exit Sub

'If it wasn't cell A1 that was changed, the rest is ignored
    'Target.Offset(0, 2).Select
    With [C1].Validation
        .Delete
        Select Case UCase(Target)
        Case "COLORS"
                .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
                xlBetween, Formula1:="Red,Amber,Green"
        Case "SEVERITY"
                .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
                xlBetween, Formula1:="High,Med,Low"
        Case Else
            Exit Sub
        End Select
            .IgnoreBlank = True
            .InCellDropdown = True
            .InputTitle = ""
            .ErrorTitle = ""
            .InputMessage = ""
            .ErrorMessage = ""
            .ShowInput = True
            .ShowError = True
        End With
    'End If
End Sub

 

by: patrickabPosted on 2007-10-19 at 02:21:28ID: 20107458

tmonteit,

You haven't said it but it looks as if you want the first dropdown to control the contents of the second dropdown. If that's what you want then here's a file showing how it can be done:

Zipped MSWord file
http://download.yousendit.com/089BCB1B68EDF1B0

Ordinary MSWord file
http://download.yousendit.com/A23876061150CE3E

Hope that helps

Patrick

 

by: gawaiPosted on 2007-10-20 at 10:36:03ID: 20115488

how about this one ?

here we go...

i type in cell
A1 : experts-exchange.com
B1: gmail.com
C1: yahoo.com
D1: msn.com

and i will display dropdown in B4 ( you can choose any cell where you like to display drop down)

go to Data > Validation and select List from Validation Criteria and in source type :
=A1:E1
thats it

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...