citext Postgres extension columns display as [Object object] in SQL Runner

[cole_elliott]

We’re now on Looker 7.8.19, and are now noticing that when querying columns of the citext Postgres extension type in SQL Runner, that the default table visualization in SQL Runner displays those values as [Object object], rather than their correct, textual values.

This only happens in SQL Runner; querying the same columns in their respective Explores displays the values correctly as you’d expect.

The citext Postgres extension is definitely enabled (as evidenced, too, by the fact the Explores display those citext values correctly), so that isn’t the culprit.

While we haven’t reverted our Looker version to prove this, we are fairly confident that this is a new bug as we are pretty confident we’ve queried these citext columns in SQL Runner successfully before without this behavior.

I’ve categorized this is as a bug, but if it isn’t and there’s some updated configuration or something that we’re missing on our end, then just let us know 👍

[izzymiller]

A quick sweep of our internal resources shows that nobody has ever mentioned the word “citext”, so I would not be surprised if this is something that never worked, or that worked “by accident” and was similarly broken by accident. 🙂

For what it’s worth, arrays and objects typically can’t be viewed in SQL Runner. It either shows [Object object] or actually throws an error. citext doesn’t really fit into that bucket of arrays/nested objects, but it’s possible we’re categorizing it improperly.

For complex bugs like this, it’s best to reach out to Support. Our support team has the ability to test things on older versions of Looker to verify regressions (if this is a regression)— If you reach out to them via in-app chat or this form they should be able to test this for you and get a better idea of what’s up.

Drop an update here so that others who potentially experience this can find out the situation! Thanks Cole.

[cole_elliott]

Thanks for the info and guidance, Izzy. I’ve submitted this via the form that you linked, and will update this thread as I get more info.

[izzymiller]

We’ve actually seen this bug popping up with some other types as well, and are currently actively working on a fix for it. The engineers working on it have been alerted to the citext issue as well, so we may expect to see that fixed as part of the same thing.

More to come

[izzymiller]

https://looker.atlassian.net/browse/MOD-2376

[izzymiller]

Yeah, confirmed this will be fixed by the work already done for other types rendering as [Object object]. Not sure yet exactly when this will drop in a release or patch, but we’ve got it fixed up on our side so expect to see it eventually!

[cole_elliott]

Cool, thanks for the quick turn around on the info, Izzy.

[vinayak_talikot]

Hi 🙂
I had this issue as well essentially because the column was of of eNUM type.
So, I converted the values to string in lookML SQL:CAST(FIELD AS VARCHAR);;
and this solved it , ofcourse, that’s just a workaround.