SPLK-1001 Basic Searching and Transforming Commands Practice Question
Exhibit
index=web sourcetype=access_combined | stats count by status | where status >= 400 | sort - count
Refer to the exhibit. A user runs the search and gets no results. Which is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Splunk certification exams often test the misconception that command order (like 'sort' before 'where') is the root cause, when the actual issue is a missing field or incorrect field reference after a transforming command like 'stats'.
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
✓
The 'status' field does not exist in the data
The search returns no results because the 'status' field referenced in the 'where' clause does not exist in the indexed data. In Splunk, the 'where' command filters events based on field values; if the field is absent, no events match the condition, resulting in zero results. The 'stats' command would have created a 'status' field only if it was used with an aggregation function like 'count by status', but the search shows 'stats count' without a 'by' clause, so 'status' remains undefined.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The 'sort' command must come before 'where'
Why it's wrong here
The order of commands is fine; 'where' filters then 'sort' sorts.
- ✓
The 'status' field does not exist in the data
Why this is correct
If the field is not extracted, 'where' returns no results.
- ✗
The 'stats' command cannot be used with 'where'
Why it's wrong here
They can be chained.
- ✗
The 'index' parameter is misspelled
Why it's wrong here
It is spelled correctly.
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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.