Splunk Search

mvexpand multiple multi-value fields that may be null

ronykrell4694
Explorer

The answer here
https://answers.splunk.com/answers/25653/mvexpand-multiple-multi-value-fields.html

works if all the mv fields will always be present.
In my dataset, one field is either missing or MV. How can I incorporate it to the solution in the answer?

1 Solution

ronykrell4694
Explorer

I figured it out using the case command. Using the trick in the linked answer, only mvzip the field if it is not null. Otherwise, do not change the mvzipped variable. In this case, test_message is the field that is sometimes MV and sometimes null.

| eval test_specific_vals=case(!isnull(test_message),mvzip(test_specific_vals,test_message,"&"),isnull(test_message),test_specific_vals)

Same type of thing at the end of the query when assigning to variables

| eval test_msg = case(!isnull(test_message),mvindex(test_specific_vals,4))

View solution in original post

ronykrell4694
Explorer

I figured it out using the case command. Using the trick in the linked answer, only mvzip the field if it is not null. Otherwise, do not change the mvzipped variable. In this case, test_message is the field that is sometimes MV and sometimes null.

| eval test_specific_vals=case(!isnull(test_message),mvzip(test_specific_vals,test_message,"&"),isnull(test_message),test_specific_vals)

Same type of thing at the end of the query when assigning to variables

| eval test_msg = case(!isnull(test_message),mvindex(test_specific_vals,4))

briancronrath
Contributor

Can you just use fillnull and set it to a dummy value or empty space value?

0 Karma

ronykrell4694
Explorer

Doesn't work. Rows where a bunch of fields are MV and one field is null are not processed properly - even if the null field has a fillnull to a dummy value.

To be clear - the complicating factor is that this field is sometimes Null but sometimes MV.

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Demo Day: Strengthen Your SOC with Splunk Enterprise Security 8.1

Today’s threat landscape is more complex than ever. Security operation centers (SOCs) are overwhelmed with ...

Dashboards: Hiding charts while search is being executed and other uses for tokens

There are a couple of features of SimpleXML / Classic dashboards that can be used to enhance the user ...

Splunk Observability Cloud's AI Assistant in Action Series: Explaining Metrics and ...

This is the fourth post in the Splunk Observability Cloud’s AI Assistant in Action series that digs into how ...