Hi! This is my first time posting so I'm sorry in advance if I break
any Usenet etiquette..

I have 2 unrelated questions, and I've spent many hours searching for
the answer on this group and on the internet but I couldn't find it,
so I really hope someone can help. I have Excel 2002 on WinXP.

1. There's an Excel sheet i'm working on where all the cells in a
particular column have a drop down list where users can select a
value. There are 5 text options in this list and I'm trying to total
up the number of times each option is selected in the column. I've
tried using the SUMPRODUCT(ISNUMBER(SEARCH..))) function, but it seems
that the true value in each cell is not the text itself, and so a
simple text search does not work.

This drop down list actually references its values from a row of data
at the top of the excel sheet.

So I'm just wondering if anyone could explain to me how I can somehow
count the instances for each option. All the solutions i've seen so
far pertain to cells that actually contain the text itself as the true
value. But when this is a drop-down menu the rules don't seem to
apply.

====

2. I am trying to find a way to password protect and hide certain
sheets in a workbook such that when the workbook is first opened, a
dialog comes up for the user to enter a password. If the password is
correct the hidden sheets will appear and the authorised user can edit
them. Else the sheets remain hidden.

From my research I've figured that I probably need a macro of some
sort and the 'very hidden' property in the VB editor. However being
wholly new to VB i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what
functions I can use to a) reveal selected worksheets when password
is correct b) hide them when the person is not authorised.

Also what additional measures should i take to make this as secure as
possible? (i recognise that excel isn't really fantastic in security,
but I would like to make it as foolproof as possible nonetheless).

And finally if anyone has actually written code snippets for this it
would be great if I could take a look at/use them too =)

Thanks for your help!

Regards,

Rhea