can I autopopulate from a long drop down list in Excel?

I have a very long list of referring physicians in a drop down list for data
entry people to populate. I would like them to type in the first 3
characters and be immediately directed to that area of the drop down list.
Is this possible? Thanks!

Instead of the dropdown.
This will take you to the name in col J

Sub gotonfirst3letteredname()
myname = InputBox("Enter first 3 letters of name")
If Len(myname) 3 Then
MsgBox "THREE letters"
Exit Sub
End If
Columns("J").Find(What:=myname, After:=Range("j1"), _
LookIn:=xlValues, LookAt:=xlPart, SearchOrder:=xlByRows, _
SearchDirection:=xlNext, MatchCase:=False).Activate
End Sub

--
Don Guillett
Microsoft MVP Excel
SalesAid Software

"seve" wrote in message
...
I have a very long list of referring physicians in a drop down list for
data
entry people to populate. I would like them to type in the first 3
characters and be immediately directed to that area of the drop down list.
Is this possible? Thanks!

No, you can't. Not in the way you want it to work. Don gave you a way to
do it not using a drop-down list. There is a way to give you somewhat what
you want, though, and still use a drop-down list.. Obviously, you have your
listing in alphabetical order. Go to that list. Looking at only the first
letter of the name, say "C", insert a blank cell in your list immediately
above the first "C" name. Type "C" (without the quotes) into that blank
cell. Do that for every letter in the alphabet. Setup your Data Validation
cell using that new list. Now, if the user types (into the Data Validation
cell) the first letter of the name he is looking for, and clicks on the
drop-down arrow, the drop-down will shift to that letter. Does that help?
HTH Otto

"seve" wrote in message
...
I have a very long list of referring physicians in a drop down list for
data
entry people to populate. I would like them to type in the first 3
characters and be immediately directed to that area of the drop down list.
Is this possible? Thanks!