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Is it true that in Excel 2007 you can't do list validation to a table on a different worksheet, only a named range that is not a table?

I enter a Source of =Responses and it keeps complaining "The formula you typed contains an error."

On the worksheet where the table is, I click into the table, go to the Design ribbon, and in Table Name it says Responses. If I open the Name Manager it says there is a named range called Responses that refers to the proper range. What gives?

Sathyajith Bhat
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ErikE
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1 Answers1

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Um... Yes and no.

It's true that you can't create a list-based data validation field based on a column from a table.

HOWEVER...

You can use Name Manager to define a named range, and use it to point to a column in a table.

EXAMPLE:

I have a workbook which tracks my fishing history. In this workbook, I have a table called "Fish", with a column called "Type".

In Name Manager, I can create a new named range called "FishList", and make it refer to "Fish[Type]".

I can then use my data validation list to point to "FishList"... and the Name Manager will redirect it to the appropriate column for my table.

Jayson
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  • That was perfect. You're absolutely right, you can refer to a column of a table using the Table[Column] syntax, which can then have its own named range created for it. Thank you. Now that I think about the fact that tables are multi-column entities, of course it doesn't make sense to do list validation directly to a table, even if the table only has one column. But the means to get it working was just not showing up for me. – ErikE Mar 31 '11 at 16:14