You could combine the product/code technique with the combobox overlay,
described he

http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal11.html

wrote:
Debra,
I had no trouble getting your code to work in my situation. Thank you.
There is a new twist that I would like to resolve.


In most types of pull down lists you can enter a character and have the
list automatically advance to a matching entry. I don't get this type
of behavior. Also, if, in your example, I simply wanted to type the
word Desk rather than select it from the pull down I would get a
validation error. My supervisor noticed that my code exhibited this
undesirable characteristic. Have you put together a list that would
allow either selection via pick from list or typein of the value (desk)
itself? Note that if I type in 'Desk -- ID# 40732' (per your example)
it would work. But, clicking in this cell fails the edit test
later.....


Another way of looking at this is to have the validation itself key on
'Desk', but have the pull down DISPLAY the longer text "Desk -- ID#
40732". Then typing desk would work.... any ideas?

Regards, and thanks again,
Brad



--
Debra Dalgleish
Excel FAQ, Tips & Book List
http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html