Splunk Search

How to Capture optional fields?

JohnnyTsunami
New Member

rex command im using:  (?:\w+\s\:\s)(?<command>[^\;]+)?\;\s(?<Datainput>[^\s]+)\s\;\s(?<Extra>[^\s]+)

Data

1) command : TTY-unknown ; data ; ... ;
2) command : Random blurb ; TTY-unknown ; data ; ... ;
3) command : Some other blurb ; TTY-unknown ; data ; ... ;
4) command : TTY-unknown ; data ; ... ;
5) command : TTY-unknown ; data ; ... ;

When I rex this data, what i get is:

  command TTY datainput
1 unknown data ...
2 Random blurb unknown data
3 Some other blurb unknown data
4 unknown data ...
5 unknown data ...

What I want to get is data that doesn't skip the data in 2 and 3, so it would look like this.  How do I accomplish this?

  command TTY datainput
1   unknown data
2 Random blurb unknown data
3 Some other blurb unknown data
4   unknown data
5   unknown data
Labels (1)
Tags (1)
0 Karma

richgalloway
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

IME, when fields are optional it is much simpler to use multiple rex commands - one for each optional field, plus one or more others for the static fields.

---
If this reply helps you, Karma would be appreciated.
0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

See your relevant APM services, dashboards, and alerts in one place with the updated ...

As a Splunk Observability user, you have a lot of data you have to manage, prioritize, and troubleshoot on a ...

Index This | What goes away as soon as you talk about it?

May 2025 Edition Hayyy Splunk Education Enthusiasts and the Eternally Curious!  We’re back with this month’s ...

What's New in Splunk Observability Cloud and Splunk AppDynamics - May 2025

This month, we’re delivering several new innovations in Splunk Observability Cloud and Splunk AppDynamics ...