Patent ID: 7506350

Claim:
A method for controlling an apparatus comprising: receiving and storing electronic program guide information; receiving a first search criterion from a user for a first type of search, the first search criterion including a user selected text string and a user selected program identification field; searching the electronic program guide information to find one or more records matching the first search criterion; receiving a user instruction via a first user interface to convert the first search criterion to a second search criterion for use with a second type of search; in response to the user instruction, converting the first search criterion to the second search criterion by automatically transferring the first search criterion to a second user interface for use with the second type of search, the second user Interface comprising a text string entry portion for enabling user entry of one or more individual characters of a text string one character at a time and a field selection portion including a plurality of user selectable program identification fields and having at least a title field and an actor field; and wherein the transferring step includes the apparatus causing the user selected text string of the first search criterion to be automatically entered into the text string entry portion of the second user interface as a pre-selected text string without requiring the user to re-enter the user selected text string of the first search criterion into the text string entry portion of the second user interface, and further includes the apparatus causing the user selected program identification field of the first search criterion to be automatically selected in the field selection portion of the second user interface as a pre-selected program identification field without requiring the user to re-select the user selected program identification field of the first search criterion in the field selection portion of the second user interface.