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Technical Tips & Tricks

Technical Tips & Tricks

Previously internal product knowledge now available for you to explore!

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mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why is there a delay in alert notifications?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: May 27, 2020 Let's say an alert is being triggered and met in the Alert panel, but the alert email that was supposed at, for example, 10AM is instead being sent out at 10:50AM, so there is a 50 minute delay.One likely reason for this is possibly a backed up alert or render queue. The rest of the instance is probably backed up with schedules/renders as well.Right now the default is 10 threads per instance for schedules and 3 for alerts as you can see on this documentation.You'll need to balance the resources and adjust as needed, so instead of scheduling the reports/ alerts at the same time, space them out evenly. This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to get filter to equal to "any value" when drillingKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 13, 2020 A user has a Look with a default date filter that's not to 'any value'When they drill into it from a dashboard, they want to change the date filter to 'any value' instead of last 7 days.The filter will just be an equal sign, like so:url: "/looks/18?&f[orders.created_date]=&f[products.sku]... This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Content validator showing "unknown field" for schedule filtersKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 11, 2020 When your content validator is showing "unknown field" for a field, but the field still exists in the Look, from 7.8 Looker version, the content validator now shows errors for scheduled plan filters.The clock icon will indicate that the error is due to a bad filter in the schedule. If you click on the replace/remove button, you will also see that changing the filter will only affect the schedule for that Look. You will have to recreate a new schedule with the new filter set. This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why is liquid not working with fiscal timeframes?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 20, 2020 Check if you're using ._value vs ._rendered_value.Looker isn't able to output a date in the fiscal format without string formatting. For example, Looker will generate SQL to return 2020-12 and then on the front end, turn it into a string like so: FY2020-Q4. If we use ._rendered_value, it'll grab the value after front-end formatting. This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Scheduling single column visualization via API endpointKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 29, 2019 If we want to schedule a visualization with settings single column visualization, the API endpoint for single column visualization is "format":"inline_visualization" This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we monitor the number of API requests in System Activity?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 2, 2020 The API requests under System Activity > Explore pertain only to those that involve generated SQL.If the user wants to monitor requests that don't involve generating SQL, they may be able to go to event Explore instead, but the Event Explore gets truncated after 100K rows, so only the most recent events are shown. This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can lots of merge results cause high CPU usageKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 28, 2020 Answer is yes!Merge results are performed in memory and not in SQL on the database. We store the results of all the source queries in memory and then merge those source queries in memory. The usage of this memory can cause the memory to be throttled (essentially meaning that memory is used up to its max).When the memory is throttled, it can trigger the garbage collector, and thus causes high CPU usage. This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Referencing quarter with parameter after casting quarter into a stringKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 31, 2020 Users typically like to follow this article where they are required to cast the CASE WHEN into the same datatype due to their SQL dialect.When we cast quarter into a type varchar, we'll get 2016-01 returned instead of 2016-Q1. How do we get around this problem?SolutionTo do this, we can use the HTML parameter and leverage rendered_value to show the value as is on the front-end. For example:dimension: dynamic_receive_timeframe {type: stringsql:CASEWHEN {% parameter dynamic_receive_time %} = 'Quarter' THEN CAST(${order_items.returned_quarter} as char)END ;;html: {% if dynamic_receive_time._parameter_value == "'Quarter'" %}{{ returned_quarter._rendered_value }}{% endif %};;} This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we set up a re-direct from a Looker-hosted instance to a self-hosted instance?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 6, 2020 No, due to security and legal reasons. This content is subject to limited support.

mandy.chanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why are 3rd party cookies required for public content?Knowledge Drop

Last tested; Sep 15, 2020 Looker Login UI will always require some sort of login state, even public Looks. Looker UI needs to create a session with a "fake" login for the anonymous user viewing the public content and Looker UI needs to save this login state in a browser cookie.If the content is coming from a 3rd party domain, it will require a 3rd party cookie.The best way to avoid this problem will be to change the domain name. This content is subject to limited support.

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Dashboard View Count during a specific timeframeKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 22, 2020 In the Content Usage explore, we have the all-time counts (/admin/content_activity_dashboard). What if we want to know the count during a specific time frame (i.e.: 7 days) Step 1: Make a look to show the total query count for each dashboard and filter down to 30 days url-to-your instance/explore/system__activity/history?fields=dashboard.id,user.name,history.query_run_count&f[history.created_date]=7+days&f[dashboard.id]=NOT+NULL&sorts=dashboard.id+desc&limit=500&query_timezone=America%2FLos_Angeles&vis=%7B%7D Step 2: Make a look to show a dashboard ID and their look-based titles url-to-your instance/explore/system__activity/dashboard?fields=dashboard_element.count_text,dashboard_element.count_merge_query,dashboard_element.count_lookless,dashboard.id,dashboard_element.count_look,dashboard.link&sorts=dashboard_element.count_text+desc&limit=500&query_timezone=Europe%2FDublin&vis=%7B%7D Step 3: Merge these two looks and do

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Label in x-axis is inconsistent for time (i.e.: year is appended to month)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 6, 2021 Our product has confirmed that this is a product design so that users won't get confused about the order in the x-axis (December, and then January'21). We can select other scales on the x-labels by selecting different options in Viz --> X --> Scale type). This content is subject to limited support.

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to drill and open link in the same tab / different tabKnowledge Drop

Last tested: May 18, 2020 <a type="button"target="_blank" ### <-- new tabhref="/dashboards/10?Filter%20application=123&run=1"class="btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block">Block level button</a> For same tab, use: target="_self" This content is subject to limited support.

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Delete a project installed from Market placeKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 22, 2020 There is no button "Delete Project" in Project Settings for projects installed from Marketplace. Instead go to Marketplace --> Manage ---> Uninstall on the trash can icon. This content is subject to limited support.

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Investigate a look performance on dashboardKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 19, 2020 To check the performance time of a look in a dashboard, we have to use count on 'queryid' -- there is no direct relationship between lookid and dashboard id.We rely on queryid is because queryid tells us about a specific query that is sent to database (i.e.: we can change a query underlying in a look or in a dashboard, the queryid will change, while the lookid and dashboard id remain the same -- same address for the house but different people living there is the analogy to this case).The step would be:1/ Find the query id of your look2/ Run the explore with query id and dashboard3/ Select average time running, source, and other fields if neededExample:https://instance.looker.com/explore/system__activity/history?fields=history.min_runtime,history.max_runtime,query.id,history.real_dash_id,dashboard.link,dashboard.id,dashboard.title,history.issuer_source,history.result_source&f[look.id]=&f[dashboard.id]=&f[dashboard.title]=&f[query.id]=59244&s

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why can't self-hosted instances install the listing viz from the marketplace?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 29, 2020 Self-hosted instances would see this error Could not install listing. Contact support for more information.These are looker network Requirements for self-hosted instances connecting to the Marketplace backend:HTTPS port 443 should be open or able to access SSH port 22 should be open or able to access GIT port 9418 should be open or able to accessYou should be able to access the viz you are interested in after adjusting these rules. This content is subject to limited support.

LanLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Result Format in System ActivityKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 26, 2020 json_fe/json_detail is what we use in the browser. json_detail/json_fe is ALWAYS cached and can’t unlimited stream so json_detail_lite_stream was created so an unlimited streamer for the action_hub existedjson, json_label are download onlyThe rest are for download.gsxml is used for google sheets This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What happens if case_sensitive is applied in multiple places?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 9, 2021 Whichever case_sensitive parameter is the most granular, will take precedence. If an model has case_sensitive: no and an explore has case_sensitive: yes, the explore will be case sensitive, but other explores will not. If an explore has case_sensitive: yes and an individual field has case_sensitive: no, the field will not be case sensitive, but other fields in the explore will be. This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why is the PDT Event Log - Action Data column null?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 26, 2020 If pdt_event_log.action is like 'trigger%', 'regenerate%', 'reap%', that row is deleted after 5 days. But if the pdt_event_log.action_data contains any data at all after 5 days, action_data is overwritten with NULL for that row. This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What does a history status of 'hold' mean?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 18, 2020 It means another query with the same render key (exact same query) is currently running. We use this status to avoid having duplicate queries run against the db, and instead put one on hold so that it can pull from cache after the query successfully runs. This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why can't a developer send data from a SQL Runner ExploreKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 25, 2020 The ProblemA developer opened an explore from a SQL Runner query, but they don't see the send option in the explore settings dropdown.The reasonSQL Runner explores are based on a hidden model, and the user will need access to that model in order to send data. Because the model is hidden, only users who have 'All Models' access through their model set will be able to send data from SQL Runner Queries. This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can non-administrators manage content for embed users/groups folders?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 25, 2020 No, most users end up managing this content in regular shared folders, and give the embed users access to those shared folders. This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why am I seeing a Variable not found "value" error in liquid when checking if value == true?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: May 14, 2020 The ProblemYou're trying to check if a boolean is true or false, but you get a variable not found error, if your boolean is false.This happens in some dialects that support booleans as true/false values because a value of false, similar to null/nil, is actually the absence of a value, so liquid has no value to check against.Example LookML that could cause this: dimension: falsey {type: stringsql: false ;;html: {% if value == true %}style{% else %}other style{% endif %};; } A SolutionUse a yesno dimensions instead, or check against the rendered value (or both!)dimension: falsey {type: yesnosql: case when false then no else 'yes' ;;html: {% if rendered_value == 'yes' %}style{% else %}other style{% endif %};; } This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to find a full commit/tag SHAKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 10, 2020 The commit Tag/SHA is accessible inside of Looker's commit history, as well as inside of the remote repo.Inside of Looker's commit history, you can right click on a commit to copy the address - The SHA will be the last portion of the URL:Inside of the remote repository, you can navigate to the commits page and copy the SHA from there (this example is GitHub): This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do I see `_1` appended to field name aliases in generated SQLKnowledge Drop

Last tested; Mar 24, 2020 This happens when a field name has upper-case letters. Because LookML is case sensitive, we append a _1 to the field name alias in the generated SQL to avoid any potential collision with a field that has the same name with different case.Generated SQL looks something like: SELECTview.field_name AS view_field_name_1FROM `bigquery-table-stuff` For a field that is simply: dimension: Field_Name {type: stringsql: ${TABLE}.field_name ;;} Example: ### Capital Letters ### explore: NEW_EXPLORE {from: breedsjoin: not_bites {from: bitestype: left_outersql_on: ${not_bites.breed} = ${NEW_EXPLORE.breed_name} ;;relationship: one_to_one}}### GENERATED SQL ###SELECTNEW_EXPLORE.breed_name AS new_explore_breed_name_1,1=1 AS new_explore_dummy_1FROM dogs_of_new_york.breeds AS NEW_EXPLOREGROUP BY 1ORDER BY 1### Lower case ###explore: new_explore {from: breedsjoin: not_bites {from: bitestype: left_outersql_on: ${not_bites.breed} = ${new_explore.breed_name} ;;relationship: one

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