Assign the start of the search time interval to the field provided by parameter as.

The time is represented as milliseconds since January 1, 1970 (UTC). In live queries (where the search time interval is forever moving), start() is the current time minus the width of the search interval.

Note

The parser does not have a search interval; therefore, it does not make sense to use the start() query function here.

ParameterTypeRequiredDefault ValueDescription
as[a]stringoptional[b]_start Name of output field.

[a] The argument name as can be omitted.

[b] Optional parameters use their default value unless explicitly set.

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start() Examples

Assign s the value of start():

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s := start()

Use start() in an assignment:

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isOld := (@timestamp - start()) < 1000

Search Relative Time to Query Execution

Writing a query that is executed against a time range relative to when the query is executed

Query
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test(@timestamp < (start() + (30*24*60*60*1000)))
Introduction

The start() can be used in a query that executes against a time range relative to when the query is executed.

Step-by-Step

  1. Starting with the source repository events.

  2. logscale
    test(@timestamp < (start() + (30*24*60*60*1000)))

    Tests whether the @timestamp for an event is less than the start time of the query. The query start time is returned by the start() function. To work out the relative time, we add the explicit number of milliseconds by calculating the number of milliseconds in the specified number of days, in this case, 30.

  3. Event Result set.

Summary and Results

The query is a practical way of querying with a relative time from the query execution. The 30 days (and calculation) used in the example could be updated with any time calculation to achieve the required result.