Splunk Search

Modify sort's behavior?

bojanz
Communicator

I have data that is using a different charset.

When displaying this data in a simple table, Splunk parses it as string and applies same rules when sorting it, by bytes.

This causes the text to be sorted like this:

A, B, C .... X, Y, Z, local_char_1, local_char_2 etc.

That's correct when just checking bytes (unicode), however our alphabet is different. Is it possible to modify the sort command's behavior so it sorts text like this:

A, B, C, local_char_1, D, E ....

Tags (1)

bojanz
Communicator

The issue is that I want to allow the user to sort as he/she wants in the interface, by any column that is displayed in the table. I can maybe use a hidden variable that is populated by my external script but that will work for first display only, as far as I understand.

0 Karma

dwaddle
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

To use a fancy word, you're wanting to change the "collating sequence" for sort. As far as I know this is not possible directly out of the box. This type of internationalization support could make a good enhancement request. There's a chance that the collating sequence is governed by the language settings in Splunk, but I've not tested.

In a worst case, you could implement your own sort algorithm using a custom search command. Then you are free to define whatever collating sequence you require.

0 Karma

bojanz
Communicator

Thanks - does that mean I just create a new command and use it like this:

old search | mysearch

How will this work when the user clicks on the sort button in the table? Generally I have problems only with text fields (due to the character set, obviously), with numbers it (of course) works ok.

0 Karma

araitz
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Can you use the fields command after table to mandate the order of the fields?

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Updated Team Landing Page in Splunk Observability

We’re making some changes to the team landing page in Splunk Observability, based on your feedback. The ...

New! Splunk Observability Search Enhancements for Splunk APM Services/Traces and ...

Regardless of where you are in Splunk Observability, you can search for relevant APM targets including service ...

Webinar Recap | Revolutionizing IT Operations: The Transformative Power of AI and ML ...

The Transformative Power of AI and ML in Enhancing Observability   In the realm of IT operations, the ...