Splunk Search

date sorting numerically not alphabetically

aaronkorn
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Hello,

We have the following search in a chart but the dates are sorting alphabetically rather than numerically. ie Aug 1, Aug 2, Jul 29, Jul 30 and not Jul 29, Jul 30, Aug 1, Aug 2.

index=reporter | dedup TKT_NUMBER | eval time=strftime(_time, "%b %d") | bucket time span=1d | chart count over NOTIFY_GROUP by time useother=f | rename NOTIFY_GROUP AS Group

0 Karma

aaronkorn
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Thanks for your response. I tried the code but still not the result I was looking for: alt text

0 Karma

Ayn
Legend

That's because you're sorting by an alphanumeric field - Splunk doesn't know what the string you're sorting by represents. It's a better idea to sort by _time but have it display as something more human readable.

index=reporter | dedup TKT_NUMBER | bucket _time span=1d | chart count over NOTIFY_GROUP by _time useother=f | rename NOTIFY_GROUP as GROUP | fieldformat _time=strftime(_time,"%b %d")
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!

Casting Call: Compete in Cyber Games

Lights, Camera, SecOps: Apply to Compete in Cyber Games     Think you have what it takes to beat the clock? ...

Data Management Digest – June 2026

Welcome to the June 2026 edition of Data Management Digest! This month’s update is short and sweet, with a ...

Think Like an Architect: Introducing the Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense ...

In cybersecurity, defenders respond to threats. Architects design the systems that stop them.    As ...