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Technical Tips & Tricks

Previously internal product knowledge now available for you to explore!

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Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I give a contractor or limited user access to only one folder or dashboard?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Jul 10, 2020 In order to view a dashboard, the user must have access to the folder that it's in. So first, you'd want to create a folder that contains only what you'd like the user to have access to. Next in order to view content on the dashboard, the user needs permissions to the models that the looks/tiles are built from. They can be given permission to the model by including that model in a model set that is in a role assigned to them. Additionally, the role's permission set must include the following permissions: access_data, see_looks, see_user_dashboards. Make sure they do not have permissions which would allow them to explore since that is a model specific permission and can expose the whole model to this user.Note that this user will probably still have access to most folders since by default, Looker allows the "All Users" group access to all User and shared folders. If we'd like to hide the folders themselves from the user as well, we'll need to do something simil

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1 year ago

adina.katzLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Dashboard PerformanceKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: Sep 6, 2019 Question: Why is my dashboard taking so long to load?Answer: When we run a dashboard, the query for each tile gets kicked off at the same time. Firstly, we may be hitting the per user query limit or the max connection. Let's say this dashboard has 20 tiles: we would hit the per user query limit which has a default of 15. This means that 15 of those tile's queries would run and the remaining 5 will be queued until a connection thread becomes available. Then as query results are returned. The next query in the queue will run. Similarly with the max connections: if we have max connections set to 50 and 45 user are each running 1 query at the time we run out dashboard - only 5 tile's will run and the queries for the remaining 15 will be queued until connections open up. Secondly, it could be that the query itself is taking a long time to run against the database. See How to cache a dashboard (Note for Sam and Molly - this is a Community Candidate Guru card) for inf

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1 year ago

adina.katzLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Trigger-based PDTs in productionKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: Mar 27, 2020 If a PDT is defined in production LookML and the PDT is persisted using the datagroup_trigger or sql_trigger_value parameter, the regenerator typically handles the creation of the PDT on the scratch schema.The regenerator is the process in Looker that manages the building of PDTs on the scratch schema. At a high level, the regenerator process works by checking the current value returned by the sql_trigger_value/sql_trigger of a PDT and comparing that value to the previous value returned for that PDT. If there has been a change in this value, the regenerator will rebuild the PDT on the scratch schema. More on the regenerator process here.There is one exception to trigger-based PDTs in production being managed by the regenerator -If the PDT is queried via an explore/look/dashboard and it has not yet been built (or rebuilt if the previous build is expired) by the regenerator, the explore query thread will handle the creation of this table. This content is subject

790

1 year ago

adina.katzLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

The PDT Build ProcessKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: Feb 13, 2020 Whether a PDT is built by the query thread or by the regenerator, the build process is the same for all types of persistence.Versions prior to 7.0:The regenerator/query thread first builds a table with a name that begins with LC, short for Looker Create.Once the LC table has been created successfully, if this is the first time the table is being built on the scratch schema, the regenerator/query thread will rename the table to a name that starts with LR, short for Looker Read. This LR table is the table that Looker will query from the UI.If this is not the first time the table is being built on the scratch schema, the regenerator/query thread will first drop the previous version of the LR table and then rename the LC table to LR.Versions 7.0+:An LC table is no longer created prior to the LR table.The regenerator/query thread builds one version of the PDT with a name that begins with LR. There is no longer a drop/rename process. Every new build of a PDT has a u

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1 year ago

david.chiaramonteLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Pull Production Failed Failed: Cannot pull into a repository with state: MERGING_RESOLVEDKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: Sep 20, 2019 How did I get into this state?The most typical scenario that this error appears is as follows:Two developers working on the same [shared] branch The first developer changes something on a given file (lets say fileA.txt) The second developer on its local repo rename the fileA.txt to fileAAA.txt The first developer commit and push the changes The second developer commit and pull The second developer then has a merge CONFLICT to be resolvedHow do I fix it?As a troubleshooting measure, make an arbitrary change to your LookML (like add a comment "#"), save and try to pull again. This tends to resolve the error.Otherwise, the easiest way to fix this would be to log into Github/other git provider and complete the pull and merge outside of Looker to fix the error. Alternatively, you can save changes to the LookML externally (in a Word doc or Notes file), revert to production, and copy the changes back in. This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

david.chiaramonteLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I use custom filters to get a YoY of the last X complete days within the same month?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 23, 2019 Use this awesome filter:(extract_months(${date}) = extract_months(now())) AND extract_days((${date})) <= extract_days(now())-1ANDextract_days((${date})) >= extract_days(now())-xAND(extract_years(${sources.date_date}) = (extract_years(now()))OR extract_years(${sources.date_date}) = (extract_years(now())-1))We'd want to replace the "x" at the end of extract_days((${date})) >= extract_days(now())-x with the number of days you want. For example, if we want a YoY for the last 5 complete days, we'd replace the x with 5. Note: This will only work if we're trying to select days from the same month. This calc relies on the extract_days function and subtraction. So for example if it's May 2nd and we want the last 30 days, the filter won't work.This is because `extract_days((${date})) >= extract_days(now())-30` would yield:-28, -27, -26, ..., 0, 1 and 5/-28 isn't a date. This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Google Auth Redirect LoopKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: Oct 24, 2019 This basically means that Google Auth is failing to log in that user for one reason or another. Try and figure out whether it is happening to all users or just one user.In summary, If a single user cannot log in: Have the user that can't log in check that their GSuite name matches their user name Ensure the email domain is listed in the admin > google domain list (ex: looker.com, google.com) Check that the user hasn't blocked the looker application on their google chrome account (more on how to navigate to that here) Check if the user is logged into G+ and make sure they have a first and last name there. (Google Auth will check the user's G+ account first.) If it is just one user, this is generally because the user is missing either a first or last name. You can verify in the logs for this by checking for something like: [WARN|18a53|google] :: User authentication failed: User info is missing first or last nameSometimes the GSuite Admin from the custo

7230

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

CASE WHEN in table calcsKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 22, 2021Though a case when in table calcs is currently a feature request (see https://feedback.us.pendo.io/app/#/case/32191), you can make it work with nested if statements. If you use coalesce, it becomes even more readable:coalesce( if(${field} < 1, "Less than 1", null), if(${field} =< 2, "1 - 2", null), if(${field} =< 3, "2 - 3", null), if(${field} =< 4, "3 - 4", null), if(${field} =< 5, "4 - 5", null), "More than 5") This content is subject to limited support.

960

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I skip setting up a git server for my LookML?Knowledge Drops

Last Tested: March 7, 2021Yes - there is an option to use a bare repository (aka “bare repo”) if you don't want to use a Git provider like GitHub.Instead of backing up files to a remote provider like Github, the bare repo implementation creates a separate folder on the Looker server which serves as the "remote". In this case, the files are only stored on the Looker server. Some things to note when using bare repos:You cannot enable Pull Requests for a LookML Project using a bare repo. If your Looker instance is customer-hosted, and you upgrade from a single node instance to a clustered instance, any bare repositories will break. (However, if you are already running a clustered instance it's totally fine to start using bare repos.) This content is subject to limited support.

5060

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does "clear cache and refresh" bust Datagroup cache?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: March 21, 2021 No. If we define a caching policy with a datagroup in our Explore or model file and we select "clear cache and refresh", it will only clear the cache for that query. This content is subject to limited support.

570

1 year ago

molly.lippsettLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Where does LookML live? (Git Square)Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: May 21, 2019 Local Dev Branch These can be found on the Looker server. Inside the `looker` folder, you'll see several folders named `models-user-X`. These are each users' local dev files; X corresponds to their Looker user ID. Inside each of these folders is a folder for each project that that user has access to. The local dev versions of the files can be found in those project folders. Note: Looker-hosted customers don't have access to their Looker server.Local Prod Branch These can be found on the Looker server. Inside the `looker` folder, you'll see a folder named `models`. Inside this folder is a folder for each project that exists in production. The local prod versions of the files can be found in those project folders. Note: Looker-hosted customers don't have access to their Looker server.Remote Dev Branch These can be found on the remote git provider. For example, you can go to the Github repo, change your branch, and see a list of files. Remote Prod Branch These c

2050

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I delete branches in the Looker UI?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 22, 2021As of 5.12, it is possible to delete certain git branches in the Looker UI in the project settings interface of the lookml project, under Branch Management. You cannot delete the following branches: The production branch Your current branch A Looker developer’s personal branch There is a feature request for the ability to delete personal development branches - please add your +1 if you'd like to see this feature considered in the future. This content is subject to limited support.

18580

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How can I extend a model file?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: April 2, 2020 You cannot include a model file in another model file, but if you want to share Explores between models you can create a separate Explore file, then use include to reuse or extend Explores in different models.ExampleLet's say you want to extend the salesforce_account_summary Explore from the finance model into the marketing model. Pull out the explore into a new explore file that has no connection defined. Delete it from finance . File base.explore.lkml:explore: salesforce_account_summary { ... } Include this base file into the finance model. File finance.model.lkml:connection: "thelook" include: base.explore.lkml Include the base file into the marketing model and then extend the explore. File marketing.model.lkml:connection: "thelook" include: base.explore.lkml explore: firmagraphics { extends: [salesforce_account_summary] view_name: salesforce_account_summary } This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

molly.lippsettLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Where can I see a visualization's configuration?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 22, 2021 If you command+shift+click the gear icon for the visualization edit menu in an Explore, you can grab a JSON dump of the vis config: This can help for debugging issues with the visualization edit settings! This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I exclude views instead of include them?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: March 21, 2021 In general, it's best practice to include files rather than exclude files. If you have a good naming system, you can do things like:include: "sales.*.view.lkml"include: "users.*.view.lkml"This is more clear and will speed up the LookML Validator since you're only including files that are needed. See our Help Center article on best practices for performance.Workaround for Excluding Files: Glob ExclusionThere is a workaround using the glob syntax, you can write:include: "[!s]*.view.lkml"explore: games {}explore: sales {}In the above "!" doesn't mean "exclude", it means "include everything but" files that begin with "s., this would include the games view but not sales. If include: "*.view.lkml" was also present sales would still be included.IMPORTANT NOTE: include: "[!orders]*.view.lkml" would not "include everything but files that begin with order" it is actually including all the view files that do not begin with "o", "r","d","e","r", and "s" as individual c

3250

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I allow external users that don't use [LDAP/SAML/Google Auth/OpenID] to log in?Knowledge Drop

Yes. Just make sure that all of the following conditions are met: In the admin panel section for saml/ldap/etc, "Alternate Login for Specified Users" is enabled The user is an Admin or has the login_special_email permission AND has been set up with a valid email credential On the login screen, they click the "Alternate Login" link below the "Authenticate" button. If the above conditions are not met, external users may experience the following: Can successfully log in the first time, but not after that. The password reset email never arrives. If an admin resends the registration email, they simply get directed to the main login page (with the "Authenticate" button), which doesn't allow them to reset the password. For more information, check the documentation for Looker integration with SAML, LDAP, Google Auth and OpenID. This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Error: "Failed deploy REJECTED_OTHER_REASON: protected branch hook declined"Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Jan 21, 2019Github and GitLab (and possibly other Git providers) have a notion of "Protected Branches", which are more restricted and are not supported with Looker.An admin on your Git repo can disable this feature.Example: Github UI This content is subject to limited support.

3800

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does Looker support Git "Squash and Merge"?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Feb 14, 2019 "Squash and Merge" is an option on Github and some other Git providers. It is not supported with Looker, so we recommend disabling it at the repository level. Example from Github UIExample from Github UI This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

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Technical Tips & Tricks

Drill to Dashboard - Dashboards in Drill MenusKnowledge Drop

How to specify the date range for dimension fill?Knowledge Drop

Can I reference the 'day_of_week' timeframe in a custom field?Knowledge Drop

How can I find the id of a LookML dashboard?Knowledge Drop

SAML Authentication Failed first time logging inKnowledge Drop

How to filter merged resultsKnowledge Drop

Dynamic dashboard filterKnowledge Drop

How do I give a contractor or limited user access to only one folder or dashboard?Knowledge Drop

Dashboard PerformanceKnowledge Drop

Trigger-based PDTs in productionKnowledge Drop

The PDT Build ProcessKnowledge Drop

Pull Production Failed Failed: Cannot pull into a repository with state: MERGING_RESOLVEDKnowledge Drop

How do I use custom filters to get a YoY of the last X complete days within the same month?Knowledge Drop

Google Auth Redirect LoopKnowledge Drop

CASE WHEN in table calcsKnowledge Drop

Can I skip setting up a git server for my LookML?Knowledge Drops

Does "clear cache and refresh" bust Datagroup cache?Knowledge Drop

Where does LookML live? (Git Square)Knowledge Drop

How do I delete branches in the Looker UI?Knowledge Drop

How can I extend a model file?Knowledge Drop

Where can I see a visualization's configuration?Knowledge Drop

Can I exclude views instead of include them?Knowledge Drop

Can I allow external users that don't use [LDAP/SAML/Google Auth/OpenID] to log in?Knowledge Drop

Error: "Failed deploy REJECTED_OTHER_REASON: protected branch hook declined"Knowledge Drop

Does Looker support Git "Squash and Merge"?Knowledge Drop

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