SPLK-1001 Basic Searching and Transforming Commands Practice Question
A search returns 1,000 events. The analyst wants to see the first 10 events sorted by the '_time' field in descending order. Which search is correct?
⚠ Common exam trap
Splunk often tests the specific syntax of the `sort` command, where candidates mistakenly think `sort by` is valid (like SQL) or that a plus sign (`+`) indicates descending order, when in fact only a hyphen (`-`) works for descending and no prefix means ascending.
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 | head 10
The `sort` command with a hyphen prefix (`-`) sorts in descending order. By default, `sort` sorts in ascending order, so `sort -_time` sorts events by the `_time` field from newest to oldest, and `head 10` returns the first 10 events, which are the 10 most recent.
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 by _time | head 10
Why it's wrong here
Ascending by default.
- ✓
| sort -_time | head 10
Why this is correct
Sorts descending, gives newest 10.
- ✗
| sort +_time | head 10
Why it's wrong here
Same as ascending.
- ✗
| sort _time | head 10
Why it's wrong here
Sorts ascending, gives earliest 10.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SPLK-1001 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-1001 exam.