Data Validation & List Function

[TripletDad]

The easiest way to explain this is to just say it... please bear with me .

I have a cell (D2) that refers to a previous cell (A2). If A2 says "Yes", then D2 should say return the value of B2+C2. If A2 says "No", the D2 should allow certain values from a predetermined list. Confused yet?

It seems like this is an "IF" statement coupled with Data Validation. Any ideas?

Thank you in advance

-Jeff

 

[memar_one]

=IF(A2="Yes", B2+C2, "Other Values")

 

[TripletDad]

=IF(A2="Yes", B2+C2, "Other Values")

Won't this just give me "Other Values" in the cell? I'm looking for a way to make this cell a List (i.e. Data Validation | List) if A2 says "No".

Thanks.

 

[memar_one]

That was just an example of how an If function works. The first area in the if function is the boolean question (does A2 = "Yes" ?) The second area (after the comma) is what you do if the previous statement returned "True". If the previous statement returned "False", then the third area (after the second comma) would be used.

Example:

=IF(A2="Yes", do this if true, do this if false)

So you can refine my if-statement to:

=IF(A2="Yes", B2+C2, IF(A2="No", B2, C2))

And that was called a "nested" if statement, which performs another if statement if the first is false. In this case, your cell will now either display B2+C2 if A2="Yes", just B2 if A2="No", and just C2 if A2 is anything else (including empty). If you have A2 be a function that returns "Yes" or "No", then this if statement will still perform properly because it only looks at the value of the cell after its function returns the value.

I'm probably not understanding your question very well, but I hope this helps.