Multiple Tables per Worksheet and Data Validation within each Table.

[mc1903]

Hi Doug,

I'm looking for some help to see if there are there better ways of:

1. tracking the worksheet rows where variable length tables start & end?
2. defining a data validation range that is an entire column within a table. I have tried using 'Table1[Region]' as the Validation Range but it does not work. The workbook is created but gets repaired on opening and the tables are lost.

The below is functional, but ugly. I would be grateful if you could offer any advice or pointers to clean it up?

Contrived example with janky test code:

The workbook Template.xlsx has a single worksheet, called Lookups which is my data validation list contents:

	A
1	Region
2	North
3	East
4	South
5	West

$data = ConvertFrom-Csv @"
Region,State,Units,Price
West,Texas,927,923.71
North,Tennessee,466,770.67
East,Florida,520,458.68
East,Maine,828,661.24
West,Virginia,465,053.58
North,Missouri,436,235.67
South,Kansas,214,992.47
North,North Dakota,789,640.72
South,Delaware,712,508.55
"@ | Sort-Object {$_.State}

$data2 = $data | Sort-Object {$_.State} -Descending

$templateFile = "P:\ImportExcel_Testing\Template.xlsx"

$template = $data | Export-Excel -Path $templateFile -WorksheetName 'Data' -StartRow 2 -AutoSize -TableName 'Table1' -PassThru

$lastRow = $template.Data.Dimension.Rows

$ValidationParams = @{
    Worksheet        = $template.Data
    ShowErrorMessage = $true
    ErrorStyle       = 'stop'
    ErrorTitle       = 'Invalid Data'
}

$regionValidationParams1 = @{

    #Range          = 'Table1[Region]'
    Range          = "A3:A$($lastRow +1)"
    ValidationType = 'List'
    Formula        = 'Lookups!$A$2:$A$5'
    ErrorBody      = "You must select an item from the list."
}

$nextRow = $($lastRow +3)

$template = $data2 | Export-Excel -ExcelPackage $template -WorksheetName 'Data' -StartRow $nextRow -AutoSize -TableName 'Table2' -PassThru

$lastRow = $template.Data.Dimension.Rows

$regionValidationParams2 = @{

    #Range          = 'Table2[Region]'
    Range          = "A$($nextRow +1):A$($lastRow +1)"
    ValidationType = 'List'
    Formula        = 'Lookups!$A$2:$A$5'
    ErrorBody      = "You must select an item from the list."
}

Add-ExcelDataValidationRule @ValidationParams @regionValidationParams1
Add-ExcelDataValidationRule @ValidationParams @regionValidationParams2

Close-ExcelPackage -ExcelPackage $template -SaveAs "P:\ImportExcel_Testing\Template_New.xlsx" -Show

The Data worksheet that is generated looks like this, with only the Region column in each table having the in-cell drop down list.

Thanks
M

[Doug Finke]

@mc1903 thanks for using ImportExcel.

I have not been that down that road like that. I'll think about it.

Off the top of my head I thought maybe it has something to do with with more than one table for the worksheet.

Does it work with only one table? I beleive the table is defined globally in the xlsx and I have not investigated how to keep it to a sheet (if possible) or if that'll make a difference.

[mc1903]

@dfinke thanks for creating ImportExcel.

I use it pretty much every week to automate mind numbing data transformation tasks.

It amazes people who spend their days copy & pasting data between workbooks, that it can be completed in a few seconds, with greater accuracy; just with a small amount of effort in PowerShell.

If you do have any future thoughts on my questions I would be grateful if you can pop them in this thread.

Have a great weekend.

M