Media Center Searching - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Robobob · 2007-08-17, 12:40 PM

I recently got a new Vista Ulimate PC with Media Center and I'm confused with how the searching works. For example...I want to find and record the movie "The Jerk" whenever it's next on TV.

If I search by title "The Jerk" I get no hits.
If I search by actor "Steve Martin" I get only 3 hits, none of which are "The Jerk."
If I seach by actor "Bernadette Peters" I get 33 hits..one of which is "The Jerk". I can then select the movie and set it to record the next time it's on.

Why doesn't seaching by title or by "steve martin" work?

pnear · 2007-08-17, 01:41 PM

There appear to be many Steve Martins, maybe it's getting a hit on the wrong one? http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=steve+martin

Jake · 2007-08-17, 02:13 PM

No expert here but many search engines ignore "the" when indexing. Try searching for "Jerk" in the title only.

Robobob · 2007-08-17, 02:18 PM

Thanks. I did try just "Jerk" and it found nothing. The 3 hits I get for "Steve Martin" are valid but I'm not sure why there aren't dozens more.

At first I thought it was only finding hits that were actually in the guide data somewhere but with some actors it returns new movies that are currently in the theatre so that's not it.

chadsfake · 2007-08-17, 06:46 PM

Try going to the green button web site and asking the question. They have MS employees on the forums answering questions.

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/default.aspx

Robobob · 2007-08-21, 02:27 PM

Thanks for the link! I've posted the question there but so far the MS Employees don't know the answer either. At least now I don't feel so stupid.

2007-08-17, 12:40 PM	#1
Robobob Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Shaw Cable Posts: 684	Media Center Searching I recently got a new Vista Ulimate PC with Media Center and I'm confused with how the searching works. For example...I want to find and record the movie "The Jerk" whenever it's next on TV. If I search by title "The Jerk" I get no hits. If I search by actor "Steve Martin" I get only 3 hits, none of which are "The Jerk." If I seach by actor "Bernadette Peters" I get 33 hits..one of which is "The Jerk". I can then select the movie and set it to record the next time it's on. Why doesn't seaching by title or by "steve martin" work?

2007-08-17, 02:13 PM	#3
Jake Moderator Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Gatineau and Ottawa Posts: 10,184	No expert here but many search engines ignore "the" when indexing. Try searching for "Jerk" in the title only. __________________ Tip: See an offending post? Don't reply, report it by clicking on the 'Report Post' icon.

2007-08-17, 02:18 PM	#4
Robobob Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Shaw Cable Posts: 684	Thanks. I did try just "Jerk" and it found nothing. The 3 hits I get for "Steve Martin" are valid but I'm not sure why there aren't dozens more. At first I thought it was only finding hits that were actually in the guide data somewhere but with some actors it returns new movies that are currently in the theatre so that's not it. Last edited by Robobob; 2007-08-17 at 02:35 PM.

2007-08-17, 06:46 PM	#5
chadsfake Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Coquitlam BC, Hitachi 55HDT79, Toshiba 47HL167 Posts: 110	Try going to the green button web site and asking the question. They have MS employees on the forums answering questions. http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/default.aspx __________________ Hitachi 55HDT79, Yamaha RX-V540, Panasonic F87K, Energy 4.1e,2.1e,HTS 1,S8.3, Motorola 3416,Harmony 880, PCH A-110

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2007-08-17, 01:41 PM	#2
pnear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Milton, ON Posts: 662	There appear to be many Steve Martins, maybe it's getting a hit on the wrong one? http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=steve+martin

2007-08-21, 02:27 PM	#6
Robobob Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Shaw Cable Posts: 684	Thanks for the link! I've posted the question there but so far the MS Employees don't know the answer either. At least now I don't feel so stupid.