Data Source, auto populate rows and columns

[Khoe]

In Excel I have in column A employees 1-10, but not in order in rows 1-200,
and then I manually enter their phone number, address, and employee ID beside
them in columns B, C, and D respectively. I do similar redundant tasks all
over my files. I know which employee has which number, but how can Excel
recognize employee Jane is number 10. I was considering the concept of using
an Excel file as a data source, but I will have to study implementing it, and
it may not be the right way to go. Would it work like refresh stock quotes? I
would highlight the employees in column A 1-200, and then fields B, C, and D
would auto populate. Any suggestions?

 

[JW]

In Excel I have in column A employees 1-10, but not in order in rows 1-200,
and then I manually enter their phone number, address, and employee ID beside
them in columns B, C, and D respectively. I do similar redundant tasks all
over my files. I know which employee has which number, but how can Excel
recognize employee Jane is number 10. I was considering the concept of using
an Excel file as a data source, but I will have to study implementing it, and
it may not be the right way to go. Would it work like refresh stock quotes? I
would highlight the employees in column A 1-200, and then fields B, C, andD
would auto populate. Any suggestions?

You could use a seperate file as a storage location and have your
employee ID, name, number, address, etc in that file. Then, in your
main file, use vLookups into the source file to bring over the info.
For example, you could enter the number 10 in A2 and B22 would auto-
populate with the vLookup formulas.