To my knowledge it is not possible to use a UDF as a Data Validation
criteria.

Based on that, the options that I can see are to either unshare the
workbook, which you need to do to apply the validation rules anyway, and
apply the method I outlined before.

Honestly, I hope someone comes along and proves me wrong here, or
provides an alternate route.

Ken Puls, CMA - Microsoft MVP (Excel)
www.excelguru.ca

Bob wrote:
Ken,
The reason I am not using Excel's protection capabilities is because the
workbook is "shared" and uses macros. Once shared, you cannot
protect/unprotect a workbook. Hence, the reason I need to use Validation
rules.
Bob


"Ken Puls" wrote:

Personally, I would create a style that has the "Locked" flag selected
(as it is by default). Highlight the entire sheet and unlock all the
cells, then apply the style to your formula cells only. Protect the
sheet and you're done.

Is there any special reason why you're trying to protect your formula
via a validation rule and not the built in protection methods?

Ken Puls, CMA - Microsoft MVP (Excel)
www.excelguru.ca

Bob wrote:
A member of this forum provided the following UDF to display a formula within
a cell:

Function GetFormula(Cell As Range) As String
GetFormula = Cell.Formula
End Function

I tried creating the following €œcustom€� Validation rule for cell A1 (which
happens to contain a formula):

=LEFT(GetFormula(A1),1)="="

but it is not working correctly (I get a €œNamed range cannot be found€� error
message).

I want to ensure that someone doesn't inadvertently over-write a cell
containing a formula.

Can anyone show me how to do this using a Validation rule? I am aware of a
solution using Conditional Formatting, but I really need to use a Validation
rule.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob