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Data Validation Study Material

Data Validation in Excel is a feature that controls user inputs in selected cells by setting specific validation rules, such as restricting entries to numeric values or predefined lists. It includes options for input messages and error alerts to guide users on acceptable data formats and to prevent invalid entries. The Data Validation dialog box allows users to define rules through various tabs, including Settings, Input Message, and Error Alert, enabling customized validation criteria for different data types.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
10 views

Data Validation Study Material

Data Validation in Excel is a feature that controls user inputs in selected cells by setting specific validation rules, such as restricting entries to numeric values or predefined lists. It includes options for input messages and error alerts to guide users on acceptable data formats and to prevent invalid entries. The Data Validation dialog box allows users to define rules through various tabs, including Settings, Input Message, and Error Alert, enabling customized validation criteria for different data types.

Uploaded by

haripubgrp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is Data Validation?

Data Validation is an essential Excel feature that helps control or


restrict user inputs/ entries in selected cells. It enables users to set the
desired validation rules to control what type of data they can enter
into the corresponding cells in an Excel sheet. For instance, we can
restrict users to enter values between 1 to 10, enter names or
passwords in less than 30 characters, enter or choose an entry from
the predefined list of acceptable values, and more.

Some of the essential tasks (restrictions/ validations) that we can set


using the Data Validation are as follows:

o Allow users to put numeric or text entries only


o Allow entering numbers less than, more than and between a
specified range
o Allow data inputs of a specific length
o Restrict entries to predefined values in a drop-down list
o Restrict date and time entries outside or within a specific range
o Validate a specific entry based on another cell
o Display an input message informing users what the
corresponding cell accepts when the user selects a cell
o Display a warning or error message when the user enters
wrong data
o Locate incorrect or wrong entries in the validated cells
How does Data Validation work in Excel?
Applying Data Validation on any cell or range of cells in an Excel sheet
restricts the users from entering any undesired entries in
corresponding cells based on the validation rules. For instance, if we
set validation to accept only numbers or numeric values, other users
or we will not be able to enter any values other than numbers.

Data Validation can be configured to show an input message to users


when the respective cell is selected, informing them what is allowed in
it, as shown below:
As soon as we try to enter any other type of data in restricted cells,
Excel instantly displays an error message and even can display which
type of data the respective cells can accept. The error message can be
of different styles and customized or created manually while setting
up the validation rules on the Excel sheet.

Data Validation Controls


The Data Validation feature or its controls can be found on the ribbon
under the Data tab. By default, it is placed under the category 'Data
Tools'.

As soon we click the 'Data Validation' icon from the ribbon, it


immediately launched a Data Validation dialogue box.
In addition to the Data Validation shortcut on the ribbon, we can also
use the keyboard shortcut 'Alt + D + L' without quotes. It will launch
the Data Validation dialogue box instantly.

Using Data Validation Dialog Box to Define


Validation Rules
The Data Validation dialogue box contains three essential options/
tabs: Settings, Input Message, and Error Alert.

Let us understand each tab in detail:

Settings Tab
The settings tab provides us options to set validation criteria. The tab
helps us choose the desired validation rules from the built-in options
we want to allow in selected cells. Moreover, we can also set custom
rules with the customized formula to validate user inputs. The settings
tab contains all the data validation options present in Excel.
Input Message Tab
The input message tab has a text box to enter a message displayed as
soon as the respective cell is selected. The input message is an
optional feature of Data Validation. If we do not define any message
as an input message, excel does not show any message when the user
selects the respective cell with data validation. It does not affect the
working of the data validation and has no effect or control over what
the user enters into a cell. However, it can be helpful to inform users
about the allowed or expected data values.
Error Alert Tab
The error alert tab provides us options to control the way how the
validation is enforced. We can set criteria and then use any desired
error style to accept or reject the user inputs accordingly. Additionally,
we can also display a message to the user informing what the error is
or what values must be entered in corresponding cells.
There are currently three types of error styles in MS Excel, as listed
below:

o Stop: When the error style is set to 'Stop', Excel prevents users
from entering invalid data in respective cells. If a user enters
invalid data, it triggers a pop-up window with a specified
message, and the input is rejected.

o Warning: When the error style is set to 'Warning', Excel warns


users that the entered value is invalid. It also displays a different
icon and the specified message. However, it does not prevent
users from entering invalid values; users can ignore the warning
message and register a value that does not even pass the

validation.
o Information: When the error style is set to 'Information', Excel
informs users that the entered data is invalid. It displays a
different icon and a specified message. Like the Warning error
style, the Information error style also does nothing to prevent

invalid data.
Data Validation Options
When creating a data validation rule from the settings tab, we have
eight options to validate user inputs. They are as follows:

o Any Value: It removes restrictions and allows every value in


selected cells, making no validation at all. However, data
validation in selected cells earlier with an input message displays
the message while selecting the respective cells. Therefore, we
must edit/ remove the input message when selecting the option
'Any Value'.
o Whole Number: It restricts users to enter only the whole
numbers. Once we select the' Whole Number' option, we get
more options relevant to limiting user inputs. The other options
typically include less than, more than, equal to, between, etc. For
instance, we can restrict users to enter whole numbers between 1
to 100 in restricted cells.
o Decimal: It is almost identical to the option 'Whole Number'.
However, it allows users to enter values in decimal forms. For
instance, if we restrict users to enter decimal values between 0 to
5, the respective cells can accept values like 2.3, 0.5, 0.9, 4.1, etc.
o List: It is a typical type of validation. It restricts users to select
values from a predefined list. Specifically, the predefined values
are displayed to the user in the form of a drop-down menu. We
can define values directly into the Settings tab or supply them as
a range on the sheet. For instance, we can restrict users to select
a Gender from a list having values like Male, Female and Others.
o Date: It restricts users to enter values in the dates form. However,
we can set some validation rules to allow previous dates, futures
dates, dates between the specific range, etc. For instance, we can
restrict cells to accept only the future dates in the appointment
row/column.
o Time: It is almost identical to the option 'Date'. However, it
restricts users to enter times. We can set validations to allow time
before, after a specific time, or between specific time ranges. For
instance, we can restrict cells to accept time between 8:00 AM
and 7:00 PM.
o Text Length: It restricts users to enter values of the specific
length. This typically means that the inputs are validated
according to the number of characters or digits. For instance, if
we restrict users to enter values with length 4 in the desired cells,
the specified cells can only accept values with four characters or
digits, such as JTP1, 0101, ABCD, etc.
o Custom: It is an advanced option in data validation. This option
can be used to set validation rules based on the custom formula.
Specifically, we can enter the custom formula to validate user
inputs. The use of formulas greatly extends the possibilities for
the data validation rules. For instance, we can use a custom
formula to ensure that the entered value is uppercase or
lowercase, check whether values include the characters 'abc',
allow the weekdays only, and more.

Apart from the validation options, the settings tab also displays two
checkboxes:

o Ignore Blank: If this option is marked, it instructs Excel not to


validate empty/ blank cells. In technical terms, this option mainly
affects the command 'circle invalid data'. When selected as
marked, the cells with no values are not circled even if they fail to
pass validation.
o Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings:
If this option is marked, Excel updates the applied validation to
all the other cells when there is a match of the original validation
of cell/cells being edited.
Click the OK button.

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