Excel 2007 : Help with dropdown list + formula

[luigihikari]

Hello there,

I am a basic user of Excel, not having much knowledge in the software. However, I have been using computers for a while and have some level of understanding on programming.

I am trying to create a formula that will find a value stated in a cell based on a dropdown list (data validation -> list).

Here's an example:

Dropdown List:
Dog
Cat
Fish
Cow

Response Values:
Ball
Triangle
Square
Cross

What I'm looking for is a formula that will answer me "Ball" if I pick "Dog" from the dropdown list.
The same formula has to answer "Triangle", should the user pick "Cat".

Any help is much appreciated it.
If any other info is required, I'd be happy to provide.

Thank you very much.

[DonkeyOte]

If you wish for "Ball" to physically replace "Dog" when selected (i.e. within the same cell) then no, I am afraid that is not possible without the use of some VBA
(were the dropdown list and response values different data types [eg number vs text] then you could do this using just Data Validation)

If you are happy for the response values to sit in an adjacent cell to the dropdown list value then you might wish to use the VLOOKUP function (or equivalent) - see XL Help for more info. if this is what you require and/or post back for more assistance.

[luigihikari]

Hello DonkeyOte,

This second case is the one I require, where the response value can sit in an adjacent cell.
However, I'm having trouble figuring VLOOKUP.

I'm checking XL Help. Just pointing me in the right direction was awesome, thank you very much.

[DonkeyOte]

What I would suggest is that in the cells next to your dropdown list assign the "response" value

For sake of example let's assume A1:A4 holds dropdown list values and B1:B4 holds response values

Let's further assume that C1 utilises A1:A4 as source for selection and in D1 we wish to return the response value:

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alter delimiter from , to ; as required per your own regional settings.

[luigihikari]

Hello DonkeyOte,

That one formula you sent worked marvelously.
I will further look into it, I haven't seen the "IFERROR" function before.

It'll take some reading into the manual but I think I can make this work.

Thank you very much for your quick replies.
If everything goes well, I'll come back and mark this as Solved (or request an admin to do so).

[luigihikari]

All went well.

Thank you very much for the support!