One of the most popular downloads on my web site is an Excel file that uses Data Validation to assign players to a position each inning in a ball game. After a player’s name has been selected for an inning, that name disappears from the inning’s drop down lists. For example, in the screen shot below, Fred’s name is missing from the list, because he was selected as Pitcher.

The data validation drop down lists have blanks where the used names were. This isn’t a perfect solution, but is a quick and relatively simple solution to the problem of assigning players without duplicating.

For a fancier solution, that removes the blanks in the list, see this example, contributed by Peo Sjoblom and Daniel.M: http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal03.html

Since the baseball file is so popular, maybe I should make a golf sample file next. How many innings does it have?

Filed under: Excel