vB Easy Archive - Blackjack contacts search function

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Blackjack contacts search function
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Posted by: denkigroove

My blackjack's Contacts search function is all wacky. It does not search for the first letter I enter, for example, if I type "N", it will search all contacts with an "N" in either the first or last names or alot of times, it pulls up random lists? This is a pain when trying to search for the person you want because it pulls up unwanted names.

I tried searching through the menu options but could not find any other settings? Anyone has this problem or is this how Samsung phones work?

Posted by: rhsauer

I spent a lot of time pondering that behavior. Do you have T9 turned on? It seems to me that when you press "N" it assumes you mean either "N" or "9" (the same for all the other keys that double as arabic numbers). Then it refines its guess as you keep inputting keystrokes. I can't decide if this approach is brilliant or ridiculous.

Posted by: fowen

This is a feature of the WM platform. At first it is confusing but when you get used to it it works out well.

If you are searching for Frank type in F - R - A on the keypad. This makes it easy so when you are searching you can search bu the first or the last name.

Posted by: denkigroove

Quote:

Originally Posted by fowen

This is a feature of the WM platform. At first it is confusing but when you get used to it it works out well.

If you are searching for Frank type in F - R - A on the keypad. This makes it easy so when you are searching you can search bu the first or the last name.

Ah, after toying with it a bit, that totally works much better now but just requires extra typing. Would be better if this feature could be toggled on/off since I'm ol school and used to one letter searches.

Thanks!

Posted by: rhsauer

Actually, it's brilliant. After pressing the green "talk" button, you can start typing either a (first or last) name, or a phone number (by pressing the number keys without holding down the function key), and the device will recognize it as either a name in your contacts list or a phone number, as appropriate.

Posted by: msr1

Actually it is not WM it is a design problem with the phone itself. What is happening is that this is the first of its kind keypad that samsung is using and all the keys to the right of the numbers on the keypad are entering in that number.

For example, press E or R and it enters 1. Press D or F and it enters 4, press X or C and it enters 7. In most cases it will associate the number with the letter so in all cases except pressing R the search will turn up both the number search and the letter search. For some reason R only searches for the number 1.

I have spoken to samsung and all this was news to them. They said it might be possible in the future for a fix to be released but not promised. They told me in the meantime to use the navigation ring to search for all my contacts with an R.

Its a nice phone but unless this is fixed it will be going back, $400 and I cant search for R thats crazy. Also no voice dial a huge let down.

Posted by: Rare1

Quote:

Originally Posted by msr1

Actually it is not WM it is a design problem with the phone itself. What is happening is that this is the first of its kind keypad that samsung is using and all the keys to the right of the numbers on the keypad are entering in that number.

For example, press E or R and it enters 1. Press D or F and it enters 4, press X or C and it enters 7. In most cases it will associate the number with the letter so in all cases except pressing R the search will turn up both the number search and the letter search. For some reason R only searches for the number 1.

I have spoken to samsung and all this was news to them. They said it might be possible in the future for a fix to be released but not promised. They told me in the meantime to use the navigation ring to search for all my contacts with an R.

Its a nice phone but unless this is fixed it will be going back, $400 and I cant search for R thats crazy. Also no voice dial a huge let down.

The buttons work, for example if you need "rick"

Put in R, I, and it comes right up

Posted by: msr1

Are you using a third party software? I just tried that and no workie. Rick does come up but not till after I have spelled out RICK. Not much point in a search if you have to spell out the entire name.

Just curious though that yours is working differently than mine could you possibly make your way to your "about" screen and tell me what revision your phone has on it? Mine is currently running 0.0

Thanks

Posted by: Rare1

Ok I lied, if I press send and search it only takes R, I

If I am in the contacts it shows with R, I, C.

In the about screen I can't find revision.

Posted by: ksblackney

Actually, the E/R problem is more complicated.

On a WM5 smartphone with a numeric keypad, each number represents the letters printed on it (i.e., to find Rick, type 7-4-2-5) and the 1 key (which has no letters) is treated as a wildcard (i.e., to find J&J, type 5-1-5). You can prove the wildcard by repeatedly typing 1's in the Contacts application of a phone with a 12-button keypad -- every contact will be selected.

Unfortunately, on the Blackjack, the 1/wildcard key does have letters on it and those letters are the first and third most ocurring in english -- E and R, respectively. Since the phone is treating both the E and R keys as the digit 1, and since 1 is handled as a wildcard, the effect is that neither E nor R can be used to filter your contacts. You can prove this out by going in to Contacts and typing the word ERROR -- all you'll find is people who have names at least 5 characters long with an O as the 4th letter.

I've been poking around in the registry to find a way to disable this and haven't found it yet. As is, it takes more keystrokes of my qwerty keyboard than my "touchtone" keyboard to find most contacts.

If anyone knows a way around this, I'm all ears.

Posted by: bigwindow

Same problem here - really annoying for certain contacts - especially those that start with an "R". Any solutions yet?

Posted by: msr1

I had not heard a peep from samsung so if there is no fix by the time my return option expires its going back.

Posted by: dgelfuso

When I type R then A, I get all names starting with the second letter equal to "A" since R is treated as a wild card. So you can't use R by itself, but it will work with subsequent letters entered because all R... names will show up when searched by wildcard... Also, it prioritizes the R... names by listing them before other ?... names. The only thing you can't do is press R and have it show you only R names. Since I have 3000+ names, I need to enter more than one anyway.

Mistake, I don't think so. Brilliant, naw. But still pretty good.

Posted by: thinlyveiled

I just fire up Voice Command and say "look up John Smith."

Posted by: ksblackney

I had a meeting with our local Microsoft folks today and they are taking my bug report to the Mobile group. I'm still poking around in the registry, but don't have anything that works yet (nor do I know if it's possible to fix this way).

If the contacts problem is a deal breaker for you, I'd return it and try to wait out a solution before buying something else. Like Thinlyveiled, I use Voice Command while driving, but it's often too noisy or disruptive to use in some other places.

Posted by: WChester PA

If this is really an important issue for those considering a blackjack, you do need to be aware that the behavior is really odd. I presume that I'll eventually get used to it and its definitely not a dealbreaker for me. But, when you start typing someone's name on the blackjack you essentially have no idea what it will return. It will return the name you're typing (most of the time, there are a few instances in my experience where it won't) but it will return a whole hell of a lot of bizarre matches too.

Posted by: ksblackney

The behavior is odd, but entirely consistent. It's odd because the Blackjack behaves in a way that no one would expect it to without having it explained to them first -- that is, it is predicable, but not intuitive.

If you start typing, you are typing into the "Call History" application. If you press Contacts first, you are typing into the "Contacts" application. In both applications, the keyboard is read in a hybrid manner -- part alphabetic, part numeric and there is no concept of switching to straight alpha or straight numeric.

The matching algorithm for information entered in this hybrid mode treats the E and R keys as 1/E/R, the T and Y as 2/T/Y, the U and I as 3/U/I, and so on. By itself, this method would work well and be intuitive. However, because WM5 treats 1 as wildcard, E and R also become wildcards (and that just makes no sense) and that makes the processing of those two buttons inconsistent with the other 16 keys "attached" to the numbers 2 through 9. Worse yet, because E and R are high frequency letters, the apparent inconsistency manifests itself frequently.

I can tell you that since I figured out what was happening, I am finding the phone much less frustrating. That said, this is still a pretty visible blemish on otherwise pretty good device and I want it fixed ASAP.

Posted by: adkalra

There must be a registry hack the turns off BlackJack interpreting different keys as the same numerical character, i.e E and R = 1, T and Y = 2. The search function would be much easier and more intuitive if the E = E/1 and R = R and T= T/2 etc.

Posted by: wealeat

Is there anyway to put first names ahead of last names?

Posted by: foolio75

Is there a way to avoid having the call history included in the search when you just start typing from the home screen?

Posted by: ksblackney

Quote:

Originally Posted by wealeat

Is there anyway to put first names ahead of last names?

From a dialing perspective, it doesn't make any difference -- you can type a first name or last name. That is, you can find a Paul Smith by typing PAU or SMI.

Posted by: ksblackney

Quote:

Originally Posted by foolio75

Is there a way to avoid having the call history included in the search when you just start typing from the home screen?

Press the Contacts softkey first. ;-)

Posted by: hidden2u

I didn't notice this until you pointed it out!

This is a huge pain in the a**. I wondered why I had such a hard time searching for "Eric".

This needs to be fixed.

Posted by: msr1

Everyone is correct the search function in contacts is horrible, I have posted my problem here before and contacted samsung direct with no solution so with that said I returned my Blackjack a few days ago. The device was great overall but the search function was totally unacceptable in a device that is supposed to be cutting edge. Take a step forward and two steps back! Good luck to everyone out there.

Ciao,

roper

Posted by: jsuds21

i HATE this search function. at least i don't have to return my phone like Cingular support told me I had to, but damn this sucks.

Posted by: Azaloth

Quote:

Originally Posted by msr1

I agree that this is an unbelievable design flaw... How they could release this phone knowing this was an open issue is beyond me. Hopefully a fix is forthcoming.

Posted by: bdwelle

Thx for explaining this. I've encountered this myself, and although it's frustrating, it's much less so with an explanation of what's going on. Still, I agree it's a blemish, and fix would be great.

Posted by: sygyzy

I wish it had the searching feature of the Treo. You could type in any combination and it'd find it.

Rya would find both Ryan Smith and Joey Ryan.

Posted by: thinlyveiled

Quote:

Originally Posted by sygyzy

I wish it had the searching feature of the Treo. You could type in any combination and it'd find it.

Rya would find both Ryan Smith and Joey Ryan.

It does. Have you actually tried it?

Posted by: akessler

seems to me it is code left over from numeric keypad dialing
nan pulls up nancy and manor
rya pulls up ryan but also pulls up stan
s is on the same numeric phone dialing button as r, so that makes sense
but t and y are on different keys
some "intelligence" that figures best estimate of wrong keypresses/typos?

it always seems to find what i am looking for

Posted by: sygyzy

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinlyveiled

It does. Have you actually tried it?

Sorry, I made a mistake. I meant that the Treo will let you type any combination of first and last.

For example you can type GBU and get George BUsh.

Posted by: philpeeps

I think Agenda One contacts module works properly if this is a huge problem for anyone...then just make it the default contacts app....

Posted by: biffstephens

I think you guys are getting way bent out of shape about something small...all products have bugs..it is just a fact we have to deal with....one guy said he didn't notice it till it was pointed out and THEN it was a huge pain....come on...

Work arounds are for sure typing in the last name. If by chance the person has a first name and last name that starts with R list it different....I am sure there will be some sort of fix....

I thin the letters that are by the numbers are cool...makes dialing a number going down the road very handy...

Posted by: sygyzy

I completely agree with you biffstephens. The way I like dealing with things is I like to call conscious design flaws bugs and pass it off by saying everything has bugs. Also, to make the road safers, I enjoy dialing friends while I am driving on the freeway. Thank you for setting us right.

Posted by: philpeeps

you think the blackjack contacts search will drive someone batty, try using the full keyboard with Photo Contacts Pro....some letter buttons only register as numbers!!!!

Posted by: Tangonim

Quote:

Originally Posted by denkigroove

My blackjack's Contacts search function is all wacky. It does not search for the first letter I enter, for example, if I type "N", it will search all contacts with an "N" in either the first or last names or alot of times, it pulls up random lists? This is a pain when trying to search for the person you want because it pulls up unwanted names.

I tried searching through the menu options but could not find any other settings? Anyone has this problem or is this how Samsung phones work?

This is solution for you. Modify registry key using by registry editor

Apply regkey HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\PhoneKeyMatch, "Wildcard" = (REG_SZ)"none"

And reboot the device.

That't it.

Posted by: adkalra

I am not exactly clear. How do I make this registry adjustement? Is it a new registry entry? or an adjustment of one of the one's in
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\PhoneKeyMatch

I see the following entries in that folder
Default
Sendallkeystodialer

Posted by: hvolterra

Here it is:

http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer...=751_ ID=79603 <http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/sea/jsp/faqs/faqs_view.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=557&PROD_SUB_ID=558&PROD_ID=751&AT_ID=79603>

Basically it considers the letters R and E to be wildcards, it will replace substitute ANY letter or number for them. What an inane idea...

Posted by: richd

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tangonim

This is solution for you. Modify registry key using by registry editor

Apply regkey HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\PhoneKeyMatch, "Wildcard" = (REG_SZ)"none"

And reboot the device.

That't it.

Added the key, rebooted...it still uses wildcards for some things. Do we delete anything from the keys that are already there?

Thanks,
RIchard

Posted by: ARHYTHMATIK

Quote:

Everyone is correct the search function in contacts is horrible, I have posted my problem here before and contacted samsung direct with no solution so with that said I returned my Blackjack a few days ago. The device was great overall but the search function was totally unacceptable in a device that is supposed to be cutting edge. Take a step forward and two steps back! Good luck to everyone out there.

AMEN BROTHA. This is my number one complaint about the Blackjack. Try searching with last names? How about if 90% of your contacts list doesn't have last names? Most the cats I know are hip hop artists and don't use last names. Type in MG and the actual contact named "MG" comes up like 20th in a list of about 100 matches. So I get to scroll through 20 contacts just to find the right one. Pathetic. If you could utilize the space bar as an actual space in your search, that would help but it just ends up making your search come up with "Found No Results". Unless this is fixed in the next 2 weeks, it's going back.

Posted by: ksblackney

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARHYTHMATIK

If you could utilize the space bar as an actual space in your search, that would help. Unless this is fixed in the next 2 weeks, it's going back.

Would now be fast enough?

The fix (it's really a work-around) is relatively simple. Instead of using "(none)" as the value for the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\PhoneKeyMatch\Wildca rd key, use ¼ (ASCII value 188*). Then the comma/question mark key will work the way as a wildcard, as that the E and R used to.

To find a contact named "MG X", you'd press the four keys labeled [M'] [G5] [,?] [X7] and that's it.

* Note that the registry value is a single ASCII value for one-quarter, not a 1 followed by a slash and a 4. To key this in on a PC, hold down the ALT key, type 0188 on the numeric keypad, then release the ALT key. (Cutting and pasting from above may work, too). If you have a notebook without a numeric keyboard, hold ALT, then hold Fn, then type MJ88, then release Fn and ALT.)

If for some bizarre reason you use the comma/question mark key a lot in searching, you could enter the ASCII value for some other key, but you'll want to stay away from the keys used for letters, 0-9, *, and #. That leaves just the comma/question key and the period/quote key. Using the question mark as a wildcard seems to make more sense than using the period or quotation mark.

Posted by: dgelfuso

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksblackney

Thank You. This looks quite promising. You mentioned how to enter the 0188 via the PC's keyboard, but how do you suggest doing it with the BlackJack's keyboard?

Posted by: trskit

I have the same question as above. I don't know how to edit my registry either on the Blackjack or when it is hooked up to my PC.

I'm assuming that the Blackjack keyboard won't be able to type the ASCII code for 1/4, so how do I do this on my PC with the phone attached using the suppplied USB cable?

Last part of this is since E, R and 1 are currently set as the wildcard key, does this only change the wildcard key to something else....or does it also mess with the E, R and 1 being the same key?

Ksblackney - THANKS for the code by the way...you are amazing!

Posted by: RCcola159

I love this feature personally. If i need to find a contact, I just start typing from the homescreen. Pretty accurate for me.