Splunk Search

Display Last Event Time in Stats function

shangshin
Builder

Hi,
I would like to display the last event time when using stats function. the following search string works but the time is not human readable. I tried to use the convert function strftime(last(_time), "%m/%d %H:%M:%S") but it's not working.

I would sppreciate if anyone could shed some light on this. Thanks!

stats max(time_in_sec), min(time_in_sec), avg(time_in_sec), last(_time) by url

Tags (1)
1 Solution

hexx
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Since you want to display the time stamp of the most recent event in the results, I would recommend using latest() instead of last(). Consider the following definition of latest():

latest(X)    This function returns the chronologically latest seen occurrence of a value of a field X.

Anyway, I here is the suggested search string:

... | stats max(time_in_sec), min(time_in_sec), avg(time_in_sec), latest(_time) AS latest_time by url | convert ctime(latest_time)

View solution in original post

hexx
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Since you want to display the time stamp of the most recent event in the results, I would recommend using latest() instead of last(). Consider the following definition of latest():

latest(X)    This function returns the chronologically latest seen occurrence of a value of a field X.

Anyway, I here is the suggested search string:

... | stats max(time_in_sec), min(time_in_sec), avg(time_in_sec), latest(_time) AS latest_time by url | convert ctime(latest_time)

shangshin
Builder

Thanks for the info. My splunk version is 4.3.1 but the function, latest, seems not working.

0 Karma

alacercogitatus
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

I like the answer.

Shangshin, just note that latest is a function of stats only in Splunk versions past 4.3. If you have <4.3, try "| stats max(time_in_sec), min(time_in_sec) avg(time_in_sec), first(_time) as latest_time by url | convert ctime(latest_time)"

Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Cisco Data Fabric from Architecture to Investigation, Better SOC Visibility, and More ...

Splunk Lantern is Splunk’s customer success center that provides practical guidance from Splunk experts on key ...

The Trust Gap: Why a Data Foundation is Fundamental to an Agentic Enterprise

The Trust Gap: Why a data foundation is fundamental to an  Agentic Enterprise.   Agentic AI is transforming ...

Data Management Digest – September 2026

    Welcome to the September 2026 edition of Data Management Digest! September brought a fresh wave of ...