Searching Television Listings

MyTelly provides a number of ways for you to find programs of interest through the search feature. By clicking on the "Search" tab, you can create and run various searches to help you find these programs. There is a default search category called "Favorites" the have several important differences from the searches you can create. If you right click on any entry in the Grid, Search, or Schedule tab, you can add that entry to the Favorites list. If the program is already on your Favorites list you can also remove it. You can also enter a list of search terms to use when performing the Favorites search. Any program that matches a term in the Favorites list, it will be flagged as favorites. You want to be careful adding single words or common phrases to the Favoites list, since that could result in a large number of programs being flagged, many of which are of no interest to you.

MyTelly Search Tab

Layout of the Search Tab

Notice in the above screen shot the various sections of the Search Tab. At the very top is a set of controls that you can use to define your search. Along the left side of the page is "Favorites" and the names of the searches that you have created. In the middle are the results of the current search. In the above screen shot, the search "MOVIE_TMC_FIRST" has been loaded and run. This search lists all movies that are scheduled to appear on TMC. If a movie appears more than once, only the first entry will be displayed. In the search results, we notice that one of the entries (Dust to Glory) is a favorite, and one entry is hidden. As with the Grid Tab, if you select an entry you will see a description of the show at the bottom of the page (Akeelah and the Bee). If you check the box for a program, it will be added to your personal schedule. If you right-click on a program, you can add it to Favorites, add it to your schedule, or hide it.

If you right-click on any of the searches listed along the left side of the page, you will be able to load the search into the controls at the top of the screen, run the search, or to delete the search. Once you delete a search, it is gone; there is no undelete for searches.

If you right-click on "Favorites", you can edit your Favorites list or run the search. You cannot delete Favorites, although you can delete all the contents of the list.

The "Search" menu allows you to edit your Favorites list, runthe Favorites search, or to run all searches. This last option is useful if you just downloaded some new listings and want to see if anything of interest is in the last section of listings that you downloaded.

Creating Searches

You can create a new search with the row of controls at the top of the Search Tab. From left to right, these controls are:

Program Type: A drop-down list that allows you to specify the type of program you are interested in.; In the above search, MOVIE_TMC_FIRST, notice that the drop-down list is set to "MOVIE", which means only movies will be listed. In that search, nothing is entered into the search box, so all movies will be listed.
Search box: You can enter one or more search terms in this text box. If you enter a string of words separated by spaces, MyTelly will search for all the entries that contain that word or phrase.; You can search for a combination of terms as well. If you enter a set of words separated by vertical bars, MyTelly will search for all the entries that contain any of the words or phrases you entered. For example, the string "Grand Canyon|Monument Valley" will search for entries that contain either "Grand Canyon" or "Monument Valley". Notice in the results below, MyTelly has found "Earth's Natural Wonders" that doesn't contain either term in the title, but does mention Grand Canyon in the description. If we had checked the "Title/SubTitle Only" box, that entry, along with "Secrets of the Southwest" would not have been found This can be very handy if you are planning a vacation and want to research some of the sites in the surrounding areas. Notice also the the "First Occurance" box isn't checked, which is why you see every time the shows will run.; MyTelly Search Results for "Grand Canyon" or "Monument Valley"
First Occurance: This option box controls how many times an entry will appear in the search results. If the box is checked, then it will only appear the first time; any subsequent airings will not be shown. If the box is unchecked, then every airing will appear in the search results.
Title/SubTitle Only: If you check this box, only programs with the search term in the title (or subtitle) will be listed. It will not display a program if the term only appears in the description of the program. If you are looking for a specific title, you want to check this box, but if you are looking for everything about a topic, then you probably want it unchecked.
ch:: This text box allows you to enter the name of a channel. If present, only programs on channels matching what is entered will be displayed. For example, in the search "MOVIE_TMC_FIRST" the channel is set to "TMC", so only entries on TMC will be displayed. Notice that this is a pattern, so if you enter "HBO", you will see entries for HBO, HBO2, HBOF, HBOSIG, etc.
Search: Click on this button to run the search you have built (or loaded). The results will be displayed in the center section of the screen. This is the same as selecting to run the report.
Save as ...: If you click on this button, you can save the search you just built (or modified). You will be asked to specify the name of this report. If the name already exists, it will be overwritten. You probably want to pick a name that will help you understand what the search does. Having a list of searches "Search1", Search2", etc. probably won't be helpful. Once a search has been saved, it can be loaded into the top controls or run, which will cause MyTelly search for entries matching your search criteria. Once a search has been run, the search results are saved and will be displayed each time you select that search. You only need to run the search after new listings have been added. Running the search after downloading new listings will let you see if anything you are interested in appears in the new listings.

When you click on the "Search" button, MyTelly will search through the current listings looking for any entry that satisfies all of the search criteria you entered. For example, if you selected "Movie", but a TV series has an episode that matches whatever title you entered, it will not be displayed. If you do a search and nothing shows up, you might want to go back and check your search criteria that was entered into the top row of controls. You might be disqualifying entries with one of the options.