[vba] Excel Validation Drop Down list using VBA

I have an array of values. I want to show those values in Excel Cell as drop down list using VBA.

Here is my code. It shows "Type Mismatch Error!"

Dim xlValidateList(6) As Integer
xlValidateList(1) = 1
xlValidateList(2) = 2
xlValidateList(3) = 3
xlValidateList(4) = 4
xlValidateList(5) = 5
xlValidateList(6) = 6

With Range("A1").Validation
.Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _
xlBetween, Formula1:=ValidationList
.IgnoreBlank = True
.InCellDropdown = True
.InputTitle = ""
.ErrorTitle = ""
.InputMessage = ""
.ErrorMessage = ""
.ShowInput = True
.ShowError = True
End With

The problem occurs in following line...

.Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, Operator:= _

Please let me where the problem is... Thanks in advance

based on examples above and examples found on other sites, I created a generic procedure and some examples.

'Simple helper procedure to create a dropdown in a cell based on a list of values in a range
'ValueSheetName : the name of the sheet containing the value range
'ValueRangeString : the range on the sheet with name ValueSheetName containing the values for the dropdown
'CreateOnSheetName : the name of the sheet where the dropdown needs to be created
'CreateInRangeString : the range where the dropdown needs to be created
'FieldName As String : a name of the dropdown, will be used in the inputMessage and ErrorMessage
'See example below ExampleCreateDropDown
Public Sub CreateDropDown(ValueSheetName As String, ValueRangeString As String, CreateOnSheetName As String, CreateInRangeString As String, FieldName As String)
    Dim ValueSheet As Worksheet
    Set ValueSheet = Worksheets(ValueSheetName) 'The sheet containing the values
    Dim ValueRange As Range: Set ValueRange = ValueSheet.Range(ValueRangeString) 'The range containing the values
    Dim CreateOnSheet As Worksheet
    Set CreateOnSheet = Worksheets(CreateOnSheetName) 'The sheet containing the values
    Dim CreateInRange As Range: Set CreateInRange = CreateOnSheet.Range(CreateInRangeString)
    Dim InputTitle As String:  InputTitle = "Please Select a Value"
    Dim InputMessage As String:  InputMessage = "for " & FieldName
    Dim ErrorTitle As String:  ErrorTitle = "Please Select a Value"
    Dim ErrorMessage As String:  ErrorMessage = "for " & FieldName
    Dim ShowInput As Boolean:  ShowInput = True 'Show input message on hover
    Dim ShowError As Boolean:  ShowError = True 'Show error message on error
    Dim ValidationType As XlDVType:  ValidationType = xlValidateList
    Dim ValidationAlertStyle As XlDVAlertStyle:  ValidationAlertStyle = xlValidAlertStop 'Stop on invalid value
    Dim ValidationOperator As XlFormatConditionOperator:  ValidationOperator = xlEqual 'Value must be equal to one of the Values from the ValidationFormula1
    Dim ValidationFormula1 As Variant:  ValidationFormula1 = "=" & ValueSheetName & "!" & ValueRange.Address 'Formula referencing the values from the ValueRange
    Dim ValidationFormula2 As Variant:  ValidationFormula2 = ""

    Call CreateDropDownWithValidationInCell(CreateInRange, InputTitle, InputMessage, ErrorTitle, ErrorMessage, ShowInput, ShowError, ValidationType, ValidationAlertStyle, ValidationOperator, ValidationFormula1, ValidationFormula2)
End Sub


'An example using the ExampleCreateDropDown
Private Sub ExampleCreateDropDown()
    Call CreateDropDown(ValueSheetName:="Test", ValueRangeString:="C1:C5", CreateOnSheetName:="Test", CreateInRangeString:="B1", FieldName:="test2")
End Sub


'The full option function if you need more configurable options
'To create a dropdown in a cell based on a list of values in a range
'Validation: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff840078.aspx
'ValidationTypes: XlDVType  https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff840715.aspx
'ValidationAlertStyle:  XlDVAlertStyle  https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff841223.aspx
'XlFormatConditionOperator  https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff840923.aspx
'See example below ExampleCreateDropDownWithValidationInCell
Public Sub CreateDropDownWithValidationInCell(CreateInRange As Range, _
                                        Optional InputTitle As String = "", _
                                        Optional InputMessage As String = "", _
                                        Optional ErrorTitle As String = "", _
                                        Optional ErrorMessage As String = "", _
                                        Optional ShowInput As Boolean = True, _
                                        Optional ShowError As Boolean = True, _
                                        Optional ValidationType As XlDVType = xlValidateList, _
                                        Optional ValidationAlertStyle As XlDVAlertStyle = xlValidAlertStop, _
                                        Optional ValidationOperator As XlFormatConditionOperator = xlEqual, _
                                        Optional ValidationFormula1 As Variant = "", _
                                        Optional ValidationFormula2 As Variant = "")

    With CreateInRange.Validation
        .Delete
        .Add Type:=ValidationType, AlertStyle:=ValidationAlertStyle, Operator:=ValidationOperator, Formula1:=ValidationFormula1, Formula2:=ValidationFormula2
        .IgnoreBlank = True
        .InCellDropdown = True
        .InputTitle = InputTitle
        .ErrorTitle = ErrorTitle
        .InputMessage = InputMessage
        .ErrorMessage = ErrorMessage
        .ShowInput = ShowInput
        .ShowError = ShowError
    End With
End Sub


'An example using the CreateDropDownWithValidationInCell
Private Sub ExampleCreateDropDownWithValidationInCell()
    Dim ValueSheetName As String: ValueSheetName = "Hidden" 'The sheet containing the values
    Dim ValueRangeString As String: ValueRangeString = "C7:C9" 'The range containing the values
    Dim CreateOnSheetName As String: CreateOnSheetName = "Test"  'The sheet containing the dropdown
    Dim CreateInRangeString As String: CreateInRangeString = "A1" 'The range containing the dropdown

    Dim ValueSheet As Worksheet
    Set ValueSheet = Worksheets(ValueSheetName)
    Dim ValueRange As Range: Set ValueRange = ValueSheet.Range(ValueRangeString)
    Dim CreateOnSheet As Worksheet
    Set CreateOnSheet = Worksheets(CreateOnSheetName)
    Dim CreateInRange As Range: Set CreateInRange = CreateOnSheet.Range(CreateInRangeString)
    Dim FieldName As String: FieldName = "Testing Dropdown"
    Dim InputTitle As String:  InputTitle = "Please Select a value"
    Dim InputMessage As String:  InputMessage = "for " & FieldName
    Dim ErrorTitle As String:  ErrorTitle = "Please Select a value"
    Dim ErrorMessage As String:  ErrorMessage = "for " & FieldName
    Dim ShowInput As Boolean:  ShowInput = True
    Dim ShowError As Boolean:  ShowError = True
    Dim ValidationType As XlDVType:  ValidationType = xlValidateList
    Dim ValidationAlertStyle As XlDVAlertStyle:  ValidationAlertStyle = xlValidAlertStop
    Dim ValidationOperator As XlFormatConditionOperator:  ValidationOperator = xlEqual
    Dim ValidationFormula1 As Variant:  ValidationFormula1 = "=" & ValueSheetName & "!" & ValueRange.Address
    Dim ValidationFormula2 As Variant:  ValidationFormula2 = ""

    Call CreateDropDownWithValidationInCell(CreateInRange, InputTitle, InputMessage, ErrorTitle, ErrorMessage, ShowInput, ShowError, ValidationType, ValidationAlertStyle, ValidationOperator, ValidationFormula1, ValidationFormula2)

End Sub

The accepted answer is correct but needs to be wary that this way imposes a 255 character limit. Better to reference an actual worksheet range object.

Private Sub main()

'replace "J2" with the cell you want to insert the drop down list
With Range("J2").Validation
    .Delete
    'replace "=A1:A6" with the range the data is in.
    .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, _
    Operator:=xlBetween, Formula1:="=Sheet1!A1:A6"
    .IgnoreBlank = True
    .InCellDropdown = True
    .InputTitle = ""
    .ErrorTitle = ""
    .InputMessage = ""
    .ErrorMessage = ""
    .ShowInput = True
    .ShowError = True
End With
End Sub

This worked on my test file (note the index in VBA starts from zero):

Sub DV_Test()
    Dim ValidationList(5) As Variant, i As Integer

    For i = 0 To UBound(ValidationList)
        ValidationList(i) = i + 1
    Next

    With Range("A1").Validation
        .Delete
        .Add Type:=xlValidateList, AlertStyle:=xlValidAlertStop, _
            Operator:=xlEqual, Formula1:=Join(ValidationList, ",")
        .IgnoreBlank = True
        .InCellDropdown = True
        .InputTitle = ""
        .ErrorTitle = ""
        .InputMessage = ""
        .ErrorMessage = ""
        .ShowInput = True
        .ShowError = True
    End With
End Sub

I used xlEqual because that's what I think you are trying to get people to select one of the list.