SPLK-1002 Advanced Searching and Statistics Practice Question
A search `index=main | eval weekday=strftime(_time,"%A") | stats count by weekday | sort - count` shows that Monday has the highest count. However, the user suspects that Monday data is double-counted due to timezone offset. What should be done to investigate?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use `date_wday` field which is based on the local time by default if configured.
The `date_wday` field is automatically computed based on the local timezone defined in the Splunk configuration, so it reflects the correct day of the week in the user's timezone, avoiding issues with UTC-based `_time`. Option B is wrong because `strftime(_time,"%w")` returns the day of the week as a number (0=Sunday, 6=Saturday), which still depends on UTC `_time` and does not solve the timezone issue. Option C is not the most straightforward approach because manually specifying a timezone with `convert` requires knowing the correct timezone for each event, which is not practical. Option D is wrong because adding a fixed offset does not account for daylight saving time or varying timezones across events.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use `date_wday` field which is based on the local time by default if configured.
Why this is correct
Correct. The `date_wday` field is automatically generated based on the local timezone setting, so it accurately reflects the day of the week in the user's timezone without additional calculations.
- ✗
Use `strftime(_time,"%w")` instead of %A to avoid string comparison issues.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Using `strftime(_time,"%w")` still uses UTC `_time` and only changes the output format to a number, which does not help with timezone offset issues.
- ✗
Apply `| convert timeformat="%A" tz=US/Mountain _time as weekday` to adjust timezone.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While `convert` can adjust timezone, it requires knowing the specific timezone for each event, which is not feasible for mixed timezones.
- ✗
Use `eval weekday=strftime(_time + timezone_offset, "%A")` with a fixed offset.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Adding a fixed offset ignores daylight saving time and cannot handle events from different timezones.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SPLK-1002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Splunk certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SPLK-1002 exam.