Why is my transaction search grouping two start events together and no end?

[brianlee12]

Hi,

I am trying to create transactions that begin with a start event and end with an end event, so I can find events that only have a start event and no end. My current search is:

... | transaction maxspan=1d keeporphans=true maxevents=2 deviceID startswith(type="start") endswith(type="end")

However, Splunk keeps grouping together two start events when it can't find an end. For example, if the event log looks like ......start.......start..........end....... I want it to group the 2nd start and end together and leave the first start as an orphan but splunk groups the two starts together despite my startswith and endswith condition. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[sundareshr · Accepted solution]

Try this

| transaction keepevicted=t deviceID startswith="start" endswith="end" | 

[brianlee12]

Switching from startswith(type="start") endswith(type="end") to startswith="start" endswith="end" worked for me but could you explain why? I parse the type before the transaction so I don't see how this should affect it.