Is it possible to embed a "search" button into a spreadsheet? 1

[ReK410]

I'm going to do a nightly export from SQL to an Excel workbook. The structure of the file will remain the same, only the data in the columns will change.

It's a massive list of contact information and I need a way to easily search through it. Some searches will have multiple matches.

I'd like to have all the data on a worksheet and have another worksheet with an embedded "Search" field/button. The results would either be retrieved on the same worksheet at the "search" field/button or on a new, third worksheet.

I know that something along these lines is possible but I'm a newbie when it comes to Excel programming so I'm really just looking for someone to point me in the right direction.

Thanks!!

 

[SkipVought]

Hi,

I query external data LOTS!!!

"I'd like to have all the data on a worksheet..."

WHY? You are only going to SEARCH for a subset of the data, right?

When you say a "search button" what do you mean? You can provide values for a parameter query, in order to return the subset of data that you need.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a brand NUANCE!}

 

[ReK410]

Sorry, I should have clarified that -

The data is contact info so lets say that they want to look up all companies that start with "Acme"

I want a field in the middle of the workbook for them to enter their search parameters In this case the field would search the "Company_Name" column in the data worksheet.

They would type "acme" in this field and hit search.

The search results would appear either in a designated area on the same worksheet, or maybe in a new, third worksheet, listing all the rows that have matching "Company_Name"

Essentially, I'm dumbing down the "FIND ALL" search that Excel comes with. I'm trying to make it more idiot-proof than CTRL+F with "FIND ALL" ...yes, as sad as it sounds, I need to dumb it down for my users :-/

 

[SkipVought]

Take a look at AutoFilter. Bring your users up to speed on this useful feature.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a brand NUANCE!}

 

[ReK410]

Skip - I think this will work nicely! Thank you for your help!