Forms Toolbar vs. Control Toolbox vs. Data Validation for drop dow
 

BACKGROUND:
I am trying to create a drop down box that will give the user an option to
select a year. From that year selected, I will then use the output with the
OFFSET formula to go grab data from another tab.

QUESTIONS:
1.For a drop down menu, when should I use the Forms toolbar options vs. when
do I use the Control Toolbox options vs. when should I use Data Validation to
create my drop down menu?

2.In general, when would I use the Forms toolbar and when should I be using
the Control Toolbox? They seem similar.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Scott

There is no reason you cannot use any of the three choices you laid out. It
often comes down to personal preference as they all can do the job.

I think Data, Validation is the simplest but the drop down handle doesn't
appear until the cell is selected so it's not obvious that it is there. But
it does put the result right in the cell the user makes his choice from.
The Forms toolbar drop down hails from Excel 5 but is my personal preference
over the Control Toolbox version as it's simpler and seems to cause fewer
problems. It can be linked to a cell but what goes in the cell is the index
number of the choice, not the choice itself. (Easy enough to get back to
the choice with an INDEX formula). The Control Toolbox version is more
programmable but always seemed to me to be designed with a userform in mind
rather than a worksheet.

--
Jim Rech
Excel MVP
"Scott" wrote in message
...
| BACKGROUND:
| I am trying to create a drop down box that will give the user an option to
| select a year. From that year selected, I will then use the output with
the
| OFFSET formula to go grab data from another tab.
|
| QUESTIONS:
| 1.For a drop down menu, when should I use the Forms toolbar options vs.
when
| do I use the Control Toolbox options vs. when should I use Data Validation
to
| create my drop down menu?
|
| 2.In general, when would I use the Forms toolbar and when should I be
using
| the Control Toolbox? They seem similar.
|
| Thanks in advance for your help.
|
| -Scott
|