you could try using conditional formatting (format/conditional formatting),
and have a different format for the cell with each different piece of data
that is entered into it, set the drop down table to formula is and write
='the result that will be entered', then set the format. Unfortunatly you can
only have 3 conditions per cell (4 if you count the original format). If you
only have 4 or less formats required but have more than 4 results, i.e. if
the cell is between 1 and 10 have a certain condition if it is between 11 and
20 have another, etc. Then you can achieve this by writing a formula that
covers the results required for each format.

"Norm" wrote:

when using the hlookup function how can I get the formating of the cell
located during the lookup to transfer to the destination cell.

thanks