Pretty much every search engine uses a slightly different syntax. Do you have to use "AND" and "OR"? Are multiple words automatically treated as a phrase, or as multiple search terms? Are you searching for pages with all the terms, or any of them? And most importantly, is this going to be a baffling, surreal, and uninformative ordeal like "Ask Jeeves"?
So, without further ado, here are the syntactic rules to apply when searching through AtAT's formidable Reruns Tape Library:
Your search terms don't need to be separated with commas. Just separate them with spaces, like ugly interface Windows.
Your search results will include scenes containing every term you enter. (It's an automatic "and" search.) If you search for ugly interface Windows, you'll only be shown scenes that contain at least one occurrence of each of the three words: "ugly," "interface," and "Windows"-- though not necessarily in that order.
The order of the search terms doesn't matter. ugly interface Windows is the same as Windows interface ugly or interface Windows ugly.
If you want to search for a multi-word phrase, surround it with quotation marks. Searching for "Uncle Steve" will only show you scenes that contain the complete phrase "Uncle Steve," but not scenes in which the words "Uncle" and "Steve" are both there but not together.
Search terms aren't case sensitive. Searching for steve is the same as searching for Steve, STEVE, or StEvE.
AtAT is actually matching your terms as the beginnings of words-- so searching for Mac will in fact show you scenes containing the words Mac, Macintosh, machine, macaroni, Macarena, and Mack Daddy. So be specific for best results.
How about those date fields? You can leave them blank unless you want to limit your search to a range of dates. The first date field limits the beginning of the search range ("from" or "after" a given date) and the second sets the end of the range ("to" or "before" a date). You can use one or both to limit your search chronologically.
Dates should generally be in the form MM/DD/YYYY, such as 4/7/2000 or 12/6/1998. Two-digit years are okay for years prior to 2000, but if you enter 6/4/00, that'll be interpreted as 6/4/1900-- whereas 3/12/99 is correctly parsed as 3/12/1999. (Don't blame us-- it's not our Y2K bug.) In general, to avoid confusion, stick with four-digit years.
You can also leave off the year entirely if you're talking about the current year. So 5/9 is parsed as 5/9/2004. Next year the same thing would be parsed as 5/9/2005.
One more thing: while searches with more than fifty results appear to work, you'll only actually be able to access the first fifty hits-- it's a limitation of the software we're using. So it's a good idea to limit the scope of your searches to keep the results list manageable. Adding date restrictions is a great way to do that.
Er, one more one more thing: while we're on the subject of software limitations, AtAT will only return search results in increasing chronological order, which means that the earliest matching results come first. That's generally the opposite of what you're usually going to want, which would be the most recent stuff first. The best thing we can suggest is to limit the date range of your search. We frequently add "from 1/1" when we just want to see stuff from this year, for instance. (The other option is for you to send us $650 so we can upgrade our software.)
Whew! Too much information...
Confused? Don't be! It's not rocket science. Why not take a look at a few examples just to get in the swing of things?
A Few Illustrative Examples
Find all scenes which contain all three words "steve," "jet," and "bonus" (not necessarily in that order), which are dated January 1st, 2004 and later:
Find all scenes which contain both the exact phrase "drinking game" and the word "Disney" (not necessarily in that order), searching across all dates:
Find all scenes which contain all three words "mike," "dell," and "comment" (not necessarily in that order) which are dated before (not including) 12/31/1997:
Find all scenes that used the exact phrase "redmond justice" between March 15th and 30th of 1999, inclusive:
You should now be well-versed in the Way of the Reruns Search. Go forth, Grasshopper, and search flexibly, as the sapling does bend without breaking. Unearth the joy of Reruns and the wisdom hidden within.
DISCLAIMER: AtAT is not a news site any more than "Inside Edition" is a "real" news show. We make "Dawson's Creek" look like "60 Minutes." We engage in rampant guesswork, wild speculation, and pure fabrication for the entertainment of our viewers. Sure, everything here is "inspired by actual events," but so was "Amityville II: The Possession." So lighten up.
Site best viewed with a sense of humor. AtAT is not responsible for lost or stolen articles. Keep hands inside car at all times. The drinking of beverages while watching AtAT is strongly discouraged; AtAT is not responsible for damage, discomfort, or staining caused by spit-takes or "nosers."
