Drop down list values?

[Wipper2000]

A bit of a stab in the dark really, but I'm trying to do an Excel spreadsheet at work to make costing individual items easier and quicker. I'm getting there slowly as I'm no expert on Excel, but have come to a bit of a standstill and hope someone, somewhere may be able to help with the following:

I have a cell that has a drop down list containing various fabrics we use. I want to put a value to each fabric so that I can provide a different final price depending on which fabric is selected from the drop down box.

Can this be done?

Does anyone actually understand what I'm on about?

Thanks for looking

Gareth

 

[Airfix9]

Is your drop-down box a data validation box? If so, it is taking the data from a range somewhere. In the cells next to each item, enter the cost then use a simple VLOOKUP in the cell next to the validation cell:

=VLOOKUP(A1,$A$100:$B$200,2,0)

Edit to fit your circumstances.

 

[T. Valko]

A bit of a stab in the dark really, but I'm trying to do an Excel spreadsheet at work to make costing individual items easier and quicker. I'm getting there slowly as I'm no expert on Excel, but have come to a bit of a standstill and hope someone, somewhere may be able to help with the following:

I have a cell that has a drop down list containing various fabrics we use. I want to put a value to each fabric so that I can provide a different final price depending on which fabric is selected from the drop down box.

Can this be done?

Does anyone actually understand what I'm on about?

Thanks for looking

Gareth

Sounds like you want to create a lookup table.

See this:

http://contextures.com/xlFunctions02.html

 

[VoG]

If you create a table of fabrics and their prices you can use VLOOKUP http://www.contextures.com/xlFunctions02.html

 

[Wipper2000]

Crikey, thanks for the very quick responses. It looks like the Vlookup should do the trick - if I can work out how to do it.

The cell with the drop down is a data validation cell and therefore has the list on the page which it is linked to. I don't seem to be able to get it to link to a table on sheet 2?

The vlookup looks like it may be pretty complicated for a novice like myself but I'm willing to try.

 

[T. Valko]

Crikey, thanks for the very quick responses. It looks like the Vlookup should do the trick - if I can work out how to do it.

The cell with the drop down is a data validation cell and therefore has the list on the page which it is linked to. I don't seem to be able to get it to link to a table on sheet 2?

The vlookup looks like it may be pretty complicated for a novice like myself but I'm willing to try.

How to setup a data validation drop down list

Excel versions 2003 and earlier
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t2OsWJijrOM

Excel versions 2007 and later
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI7XCv07AAg

 

[Wipper2000]

How to setup a data validation drop down list

Excel versions 2003 and earlier
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t2OsWJijrOM

Excel versions 2007 and later
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI7XCv07AAg

Cheers for this, but I can't seem to select a list from say sheet 2 (so the list isn't cluttering up the main sheet 1).

 

[T. Valko]

Cheers for this, but I can't seem to select a list from say sheet 2 (so the list isn't cluttering up the main sheet 1).

Did you give the source list a defined name?

 

[Wipper2000]

Did you give the source list a defined name?

No - I was selecting the list by highlighting the entire column (so I can add to the list as and when required). The problem is that when I want to move the list onto sheet 2 (out of the way) it won't let me move from sheet 1.
Do I have to name the list somehow? How then do I tell the data cell to look for that list?

Sorry for being a bit thick.

 

[T. Valko]

No - I was selecting the list by highlighting the entire column (so I can add to the list as and when required). The problem is that when I want to move the list onto sheet 2 (out of the way) it won't let me move from sheet 1.
Do I have to name the list somehow? How then do I tell the data cell to look for that list?

Sorry for being a bit thick.

What version of Excel are you using?

What is the data type of the items in the drop down list? Is it text, numbers, both?