I have limited Excel experience. I recently tried a database type of functionality by using a chart, defining a named group and using validation for a drop down list of products. Then I use Index in a formula to find other chart values of the selected item, such as product specifications and pricing. This worked out great.

But the drop down list is 104 items long. I would like to add some user input cells to constrain the drop down interactively by multiple criteria. I'm not sure how best to accomplish this.

My Chart has Manufacturer, part number, Size, orientation that are key to choosing the right product.

I could add fields for the user to choose one of the two manufactures. They orientation is also a binary choice. Then unit size, which is a BTU range.

What I want to accomplish is to enter those values and have the drop down list trimmed down to just the items that meet it.

What is the best function/approach/method of doing that? I've read some about filtering, advanced filtering, but I'm not sure which one is actually capable of the end result I'm trying to achieve.

Can someone please point me in the right direction?