Ed asked if there was a way, using Word tables, to validate data that is added to cells. For instance, to limit the minimum and maximum characteristics of the data that could be entered in a cell.
The bad news, Ed, is that there is no easy way to accomplish such a feat solely using Word. Granted, a set of macros could be devised that would do some sort of validation, but they would not be easy, by any stretch of the imagination. Alternatively, you could set up a user form with input fields for each table cell. Then, you could apply validation code to what the user enters or selects in each input field. Even this approach, however, would be difficult to implement for all but the simplest tables.
Perhaps the easiest method of accomplishing data validation, however, is to simply use Excel. It has data validation routines quickly available to a user on a cell-by-cell basis. Then, the table data created in Excel can be pasted into (and linked to) a Word document.
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