Filter data by different groups of values

Hi all,

I am trying to improve a spreadsheet that I have to use everyday, I've done a lot of searching but unfortunately couldn't find a relevant solution.

I have a list with varying number of entries (different length every day) that has a number of columns including a column that contains machine codes (say 1,2,3,4,5...).

Each machine is programmed by a different person (say Andy,Ben,Craig,etc.).

One programmer can program more than one machine so for instance Andy is interested in programs for machines 1,3,5 and Ben in machines 2 and 4.

Every day we send a list of jobs that require programming which is pre-filtered for each programmer so if I send the list to Andy he only sees rows of data with machine codes 1,3 and 5.

I am trying to make a drop-down where I pick the programmer's name and the list automatically gets filtered for the machines for that specific person (e.g. 1,3,5).

I believe this could be done with advanced filtering but the problem is that the list length changes every day and the data is pasted into the spreadsheet from a different CSV file so I cannot define a set range for advanced filtering because it does not accept blank rows...

I am attaching a screenshot of the list if that helps in any way, at the minute I tick the machine codes for each programmer by hand before emailing which just seems like a waste of time to me...

Is there any way I can work around this?

Any help will be much appreciated.

list.jpg

There are a lot of words there, but I think I know what you mean. You need to follow the tutorial here:

http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal02.html

In particular, you should follow the "using dynamic lists" section. It looks a bit of a nightmare, but it does work... If you run into problems, please post an example spreadsheet, not a screen shot.