Selecting Criteria on the X and Y axis of a Chart in order to Extract Chart Data

Hello,

As part of my work, I use a 5 page chart that shows how much electrical current a certain type of electrical wire can carry, at a specified temperature.

Across the top axis of the chart are different columns, with each column representing a different type of wire, or different size of wire (for wires of the same type). For each different type of wire or different size of wire, the chart provides two values of electrical current carrying capacity (NORMAL and EMERGENCY).

On the left axis of the chart are rows that show the value of ambient air temperature. These temperatures range from the lowest value of 10 degrees F at the top of the chart, to 110 degrees F at the bottom of the chart.

I am exploring the possibility of building a tool that will display the information found in this chart, by 1) selecting the ambient air temperature from a drop down menu or entering the ambient air temperature into a data entry box, and 2) entering the specific designation for the specific wire type (for example, "1/0 AAAC" or "2/0 AAAC").

This is what a small portion of one of the columns in the chart looks like:

#4 AAAC #4 AAAC #2 AAAC #2 AAAC
NORMAL EMERGENCY NORMAL EMERGENCY
10 degrees F 190 202 255 271
15 degrees F 187 198 250 266
20 Degrees F 183 195 246 262

In my tool, I would specify the ambient air temperature (by either selecting the ambient air temperature from a drop down menu or entering the temperature into a data box), and then enter the designation for the specific wire into a different data box. For an ambient air temperature of 15 degrees F and a specific wire type of #2 AAAC, my displayed results would be:

NORMAL: 250 EMERGENCY: 266

Can anyone offer any suggestions on how I could set such a tool up? My first assumption is that I would be building this tool in MS Excel. If Excel is not the best choice, please let me know what might be a better choice.

Many thanks in advance, for your help.

Rick

I am not sure what you mean by this since there is no drop down menu on the left side of Sheet1.

TO USE THIS TOOL: SELECT THE AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE FROM THE DROP DOWN MENU ON THE LEFT SIDE OF SHEET 1. THIS SELECTED TEMPERATURE WILL BE USED FOR ALL ENTERED VALUES OF WIRE SPECIFICATION.

Do you want us to build a drop down as part of the solution?

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