Creating dynamic dropdown menus in Numbers which are populated from another table(s)

Nothing has changed. Numbers pop up menus are not dynamic. You will have to manually update them.

I don't know what all you have read but below is the gist of it

Create the popup:

1. List all your equipment in a column. Sort it in the order you want.
2. Select all items and format as popup menu
3. Copy/paste the menu where you need it

To update:

1. Select the column of equipment
2. Format as text
3. Add/delete items. Sort as necessary
4. Select all and format as pop up.
5. Copy/paste a ppup to new places that need it (but not over any popups that are already in use)

I'd like to find a way to copy/paste over existing pop ups without changing their values, even if those values are no longer in the pop up. I think it might be possible with an AppleScript. Someting along the lines of 1) Save the current cell value, 2) Paste in the new pop up, 3) set the value back to what it was.

To create dynamic dropdown menus in Numbers, follow these steps: 1) Create a data source table with your equipment list, 2) Create a new table with the dropdown menu, 3) Select the column for dropdowns, 4) Add a pop-up menu, and 5) Populate the pop-up menu. If Numbers doesn't support dynamic dropdowns directly linked to another table, use formulas to reference data, 6) Manually update the dropdown list, or use AppleScript for advanced automation. Although Numbers has limitations compared to more advanced spreadsheet software, these steps allow for semi-automated management and updating of dropdown lists.

Using AppleScript I have been able to paste a new pop up menu into cells with old ones without changing the current value in the cells. However, if the current value is not in the updated pop up menu (such as if you deleted that piece of equipment from the list), that cell will no longer be a pop up, it will be a single value. I have not yet been able to put a pop up menu in a cell and set the cell value to something that is not in the menu without it wiping out the pop up.