SPLK-1002 Advanced Searching and Statistics Practice Question
A search returns duplicate events for the same user. The analyst wants to keep only the first occurrence of each user based on timestamp. Which sequence of commands is best?
⚠ Common exam trap
Splunk often tests the order of operations in piped commands, specifically that `sort` must precede `dedup` to control which event is kept, and that `-` before a field name reverses the sort order, which candidates may misinterpret.
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
✓
sort _time | dedup user
It first sorts events by timestamp in ascending order (oldest first), then applies `dedup user` to keep only the first occurrence of each user. Since `dedup` retains the first event it encounters for each field value, sorting by `_time` ensures that the earliest event for each user is kept, satisfying the requirement to keep only the first occurrence based on timestamp.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
sort -_time | dedup user
Why it's wrong here
Sort descending keeps the latest event first, so dedup keeps the most recent.
- ✗
dedup user
Why it's wrong here
Dedup without sort keeps the first event it encounters, which may not be the earliest.
- ✗
dedup user | sort _time
Why it's wrong here
Sorting after dedup does not change which event is kept.
- ✓
sort _time | dedup user
Why this is correct
Sort ascending puts earliest first, then dedup keeps the first (earliest) per user.
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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.