How to automatically expand drop-down validation list

Question

Is there any alternative to SendKeys to expand drop-down validation list automatically? I would like to expand drop-down validation list after clicking on a cell. The focus of my question is entirely on how to avoid SendKeys method.

Here is a properly working solution using SendKeys :

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
    If HasValidation(Target) Then
        SendKeys "%{DOWN}"
        SendKeys "{NUMLOCK}", True 'Workaround for Numlock turn off bug
    End If
End Sub

Function HasValidation(MyCell As Range) As Boolean
    Dim t: t = Null
    On Error Resume Next
    t = MyCell.Validation.Type
    On Error GoTo 0
    HasValidation = Not IsNull(t)
End Function

Related links:
HasValidation function: https://stackoverflow.com/a/31346246/1903793
NumLock bug: https://stackoverflow.com/a/29551913/1903793

The code above works smoothly without a hitch. I am just biased against SendKeys for widely reported issues. I suspect that incorporating this solution into larger code might cause unexpected behavior in the future which might be hard to capture.

Answer 1

Your definition of what you wish to achieve leaves a few questions to be answered but perhaps the code below will put you on the right path.

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)

    Const Trigger As String = "A3:B4"               ' modify to suit
    Const ValCell As String = "H3"                  ' modify as required

    Dim ValType As Long

    If Not Application.Intersect(Target, Range(Trigger)) Is Nothing Then
        Application.EnableEvents = False
        Range(ValCell).Activate

        On Error Resume Next
        ValType = ActiveCell.Validation.Type
        On Error GoTo 0
        If ValType = 3 Then SendKeys "%{DOWN}"

        Application.EnableEvents = True
    End If
End Sub

The above procedure monitors the Trigger range A3:B4, which you can adjust to what you need. If one of the cells in this range (it could be a single cell range) is clicked the dropdown in the cell having the validation, defined as ValCell , expands, provided it exists. The code achieves this by activating the CellVal cell.