Splunk Search

What is wrong with my regex? "Regex: missing terminating ] for character class"

dbcase
Motivator

Hi,

I have this data
{"analyticType":"CustomAnalytic","buildTarget":"blah","clientSessionId":"DXFMLAF-CYTQQQK","Properties":{"index":1,"args":["{\"accountId\":\"exr244040\",\"customerId\":\"1001857\"}"],"category":"Event"}}

And this regex (which works in regex101

accountId\\":\\"(?<extref>[^\\]+)

but splunk barfs when I use it in this query

index=wholesale_app CustomAnalytic Properties.index=1|rex "accountId\\":\\"(?<extref>[^\\]+)"|stats count by extref

with this error message

Error in 'rex' command: Encountered the following error while compiling the regex 'accountId\:\(?<extref>[^\]+)': Regex: missing terminating ] for character class

(scratches head).....what am I doing wrong?

Tags (2)
0 Karma
1 Solution

DalJeanis
Legend

Because the rex is in quotes, you need to escape the escape character(s) again, and then iterate testing it until it resolves.

Here's run-anywhere code...

| makeresults 
| eval data = "{\"analyticType\":\"CustomAnalytic\",\"buildTarget\":\"blah\",\"clientSessionId\":\"DXFMLAF-CYTQQQK\",\"Properties\":{\"index\":1,\"args\":[\"{\\\"accountId\\\":\\\"exr244040\\\",\\\"customerId\\\":\\\"1001857\\\"}\"],\"category\":\"Event\"}}"
| rename COMMENT as "The above just enters your data as you posted it."

| rex field=data "accountId\\\\\":\\\\\"(?<accountId>[^\\\]+)"

updated from

| rex field=data "accountId[\\\\][\\\"]:[\\\\][\\\"](?<accountId>[^\\\"\\\\]+)[\\\\][\\\"]"

In this case, I used this construct [\\\\] to represent a single escape character \ , and the construct [\\\"] to represent a single quote ".

View solution in original post

dbcase
Motivator

Figured it out, splunk requires more escaping of slash characters

0 Karma

DalJeanis
Legend

Because the rex is in quotes, you need to escape the escape character(s) again, and then iterate testing it until it resolves.

Here's run-anywhere code...

| makeresults 
| eval data = "{\"analyticType\":\"CustomAnalytic\",\"buildTarget\":\"blah\",\"clientSessionId\":\"DXFMLAF-CYTQQQK\",\"Properties\":{\"index\":1,\"args\":[\"{\\\"accountId\\\":\\\"exr244040\\\",\\\"customerId\\\":\\\"1001857\\\"}\"],\"category\":\"Event\"}}"
| rename COMMENT as "The above just enters your data as you posted it."

| rex field=data "accountId\\\\\":\\\\\"(?<accountId>[^\\\]+)"

updated from

| rex field=data "accountId[\\\\][\\\"]:[\\\\][\\\"](?<accountId>[^\\\"\\\\]+)[\\\\][\\\"]"

In this case, I used this construct [\\\\] to represent a single escape character \ , and the construct [\\\"] to represent a single quote ".

becksyboy
Contributor

Thanks this worked for me

0 Karma

dbcase
Motivator

thanks DalJeanis!

I ended up with

rex "accountId.....(?<extref>[^\\\]+)"

DalJeanis
Legend

Good job. Updated to the simpler version.

0 Karma
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!

Index This | What travels the world but is also stuck in place?

April 2026 Edition  Hayyy Splunk Education Enthusiasts and the Eternally Curious!   We’re back with this ...

Discover New Use Cases: Unlock Greater Value from Your Existing Splunk Data

Realizing the full potential of your Splunk investment requires more than just understanding current usage; it ...

Continue Your Journey: Join Session 2 of the Data Management and Federation Bootcamp ...

As data volumes continue to grow and environments become more distributed, managing and optimizing data ...