Hi

The easiest way to do this:

1. In every user file, add a sheet Links;

2. On sheet links, design 3 cell ranges, where cells are linked with cells
in Lookup.xls tables Organisation, Employment Status, and Projects;

P.e.
Links!A1=IF('C:\Documents and Settings\Profile\My
Documents\[Lookup.xls]Organisation'!A1="","",'C:\Documents and
Settings\Profile\My Documents\[Lookup.xls]Organisation'!A1)
, and copy down into range A1:A6

Links!D1=IF('C:\Documents and Settings\Profile\My
Documents\[Lookup.xls]Employment Status'!A1="","",'C:\Documents and
Settings\Profile\My Documents\[Lookup.xls]Employment Status'!A1)
, and copy down into range D1:D3

Links!G1=IF('C:\Documents and Settings\Profile\My
Documents\[Lookup.xls]Projects'!A1="","",'C:\Documents and
Settings\Profile\My Documents\[Lookup.xls]Projects'!A1)
, and copy down into range A1:A12

3. Define ranges Links!A1:A6, Links!D1:D6, and Links!G1:G12 an named ranges
Organisation, Emploiment, and Projects respectively;

4. In your Data validation lists, refer to those named ranges;

5. Hide the sheet Links (there is no reason the user must have direct access
to it).


--
Arvi Laanemets
( My real mail address: arvi.laanemets<attarkon.ee )


"Sharon" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I need a solution to the following problem.

I have a template for each member of staff [e.g John Doe Time
Tracking.xls]
(for about 50 people) to track time spent on particular activities
(projects)
and which company they are employed by.

Because the lists of Companies, Projects and EMployment Status may change
from time to time, I would like to maintain this in a centralised
spreadsheet
rather than in each of the 50 worksheets that each member of staff uses.



So on every template, I would like the following:

Cell: $F$5 to select from Range A1:A6 in Lookup.xls'Organisation'
Cell: $F$6 to select from Range A1:A3 in Lookup.xls'Employment Status'
Cells: $L5:$L100 to select from Range A1:A12 in Lookup.xls'Projects'



Is there a simple way of doing this so that the variables can be held and
maintained in a seperate excel file?

Regards

Sharon