Quick Input from List

Standard tier

Available on Standard tier and above (port of A-Tools' "Advanced data entry").

Opens an autocomplete popup as you type in a cell — list source is taken from a pre-registered range. Speeds up entry when data has repeating patterns (e.g. Material column, Unit, Norm code, Supplier name...).

Open the dialog

DVD Addin → group Text and Number → click Quick Input.

Or the ▼ dropdown next to "Quick Input" → Quick Input Sources to manage source ranges.

Setup flow

Step 1 — Register source range

Open Source Manager (Quick Input ▼ → Quick Input Sources):

Field	Description
Name	Alias for the source (e.g. MATERIALS, UNITS, SUPPLIERS)
Range	Sheet1!A2:A1000 or highlight and click "Get current range"
Sheet	Sheet containing the data
Has header	Tick if first row is a header (skipped when populating list)

Save → source is stored in the workbook via CustomXMLPart (per-file, not global → each file has its own sources).

Step 2 — Register target columns

In Source Manager → Targets tab:

Field	Description
Source name	Pick a registered source from the dropdown
Target column	E.g. Sheet2!B:B — which column will trigger autocomplete

One source can map to multiple target columns.

Step 3 — Use it

Click into a cell in a target column → start typing → popup appears with values from the source matching the prefix.

Key	Action
↑ ↓	Navigate list
Tab or Enter	Select item, populate cell
Esc	Close list, leave cell unchanged
F2	Open full editor instead of list popup

Keep typing → list filters in real-time. Fuzzy match — typing "concr" finds "Reinforced concrete".

Use cases

"Material" column in BoQ sheet

1. Create sheet Master column A with 100+ standard material names
2. Register source: name=MATERIALS, range=Master!A:A
3. Register target: source=MATERIALS, target=BoQ!C:C
4. User opens BoQ sheet, clicks C5, types "co" → popup lists "Concrete M250", "Concrete M300", "Non-shrink concrete"...

"Unit" column

1. Source UNITS = Config!A1:A20 containing: m, m2, m3, kg, ton, piece, set, work...
2. Targets = BoQ!D:D, Quantity!D:D, ...

Supplier names

1. Source SUPPLIERS = Master!E:E (supplier list)
2. Target = every "Supplier" column across the workbook

Multi-column populate

When the source range has multiple columns (e.g. A=Code, B=Name, C=Unit), config can:

• Select item → populate multiple columns: target cell + cells to the right

E.g. source = Items!A:C (Code, Name, Unit) → target = BoQ!B:B → pick "AB.11110 Excavate m3" → cell B5 = "AB.11110", C5 = "Excavate", D5 = "m3" (auto-fills horizontally).

Persistence

Stored where	Description
Source + Target config	CustomXMLPart in the .xlsx file — travels with the file when shared
Recent picks	In memory (lost when Excel closes) — NOT persisted to avoid bloat

Each workbook has its own config. When sharing the file → recipient can use immediately (must have DVDAddin installed).

License gating

Tier	Available
Trial / Activated	✅ All
Standard	✅ All
Pro	✅ All
Expired / Unactivated	🔒 Locked

Tips

• Name sources UPPERCASE to distinguish from Excel Range names
• Avoid huge sources (>10,000 rows) → popup slow. Filter first or cache to a Master sheet
• Combine with Data Validation: Quick Input gives soft suggestions, Data Validation is hard — blocks invalid input
• Reset memory: ▼ → "Clear popup cache" — when the popup still shows old items after you changed the source

Related

• Numbering — auto-number column A when entering BoQ
• Smart Case — standardize case after entry
• Data Cleaning — cleanup hand-entered data