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Previously internal product knowledge now available for you to explore!

  • 1,739 Topics
  • 274 Replies

1739 Topics

david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
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.                 

21460
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
1 year ago
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
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.                 

620
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do I have more rows in my drill table than my count_distinct measure indicates?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 15, 2021 If multiple rows have the same value in the column which is being aggregated with a count distinct, you could see this behavior. The drill will show distinct combinations of the dimensions you've indicated in that measure's drill_fields parameter, which might be more numerous than the distinct values counted by your count distinct aggregation.Example:If you have a count distinct on ID that shows 1 in the column, and if more fields are selected in the drill down, you could have this:id value1 A1 B1 CThere is 1 distinct ID, but is getting expanded in the drill.Also, in cases where count is being filtered using a CASE WHEN statement in the sql parameter of the field you're trying to drill into, this CASE WHEN condition doesn't get factored in to the drill filters, which can also cause a discrepancy. This Community post describes using a filtered measure instead of a CASE WHEN to resolve this issue.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

4170
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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

4670
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                  

810
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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 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".We do not recommend this as it makes your Looker server a single point of failure for LookML file loss. Also, you lose the nice integrations that come with a git provider, such as implementing pull requests and viewing commit differences in a UI.Note: Bare repositories will break when switching from a single node instance to a clustered instance (as the repo is stored on that single node). However, if you are already running a clustered instance it's totally fine to use bare repos as they will be stored on the shared filesystem properly.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

2800
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                  

480
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
molly.lippsett
Looker Staff
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

1940
molly.lippsett
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                  

15270
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                  

2020
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
molly.lippsett
Looker Staff
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.                  

480
molly.lippsett
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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

2240
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                  

490
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                 

3340
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

"Auth Fail" Git errorKnowledge Drop

Last tested: March 11, 2021 Auth fail means either a) that git repo isn’t open to the network so Looker can't SSH to it at all, no matter the key or b) the key is wrong.Things to CheckTry resetting the connection/key and, if hosting your own Looker instance, making sure port 22 is open on the instance per outbound port req's doc.Additionally, if hosting your own Looker instance:Check the contents of the ~/.ssh/config file in the Looker instance account directory. If the config file contains an "Identityfile" section, this has been found to cause "Auth Fail" errors in git connection testing. Cause is not well understood, but deleting the "Identityfile" section from the ./ssh/config file resolves the auth error for Looker.(If Looker hosts your instance on Kubernetes, the identity file is likely not the issue!)This error can also occur when 2FA is set up with the Git provider when using HTTPS to connect. The way around this would be to use your access token instead of a password or use th

10510
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I link to another dashboard and keep my applied filters?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: May 12, 2020 Yes! You can use the _filters notation, documented here. You'll need to use one filter parameter for each filter you want to bring over.It works like this:dimension: name { link: { label: "Business Pulse By State Dashboard" url: "https://learn.looker.com/dashboards/694?State={{ _filters['users.state'] | url_encode }}&Age={{ _filters['users.age'] | url_encode }}" }}Notice that State and Age are the names of the dashboard-level filters on the new dashboard, whereas users.state and users.age are actual fields that were being filtered on in the old dashboard. This content is subject to limited support.                  

3740
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I limit the options available in a filter field?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: March 12, 2021Not really!WorkaroundsToggling off "Allow multiple filter values" on a dashboard filter will limit the filter to "is equal to" and "matches user attribute". This option is located in the "Customize Filter" section of the dashboard filter settings.Doc on this here.Another workaround is to use a parameter field and specify several allowed_valueparameters. For limiting the options in a date filter with this approach, there's an awesome Help Center article explaining that here!Feature RequestsThere are two relevant feature requests: Restrict Filter Values Control Over Filter Options   This content is subject to limited support.                

8340
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I push changes from branch to branch, rather than just to production?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 7, 2021You must define one branch to use as your production branch; however, with Advanced Deploy Mode, you can deploy from any branch (and any commit) to that production branch.   This content is subject to limited support.                

240
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
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.                  

720
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I revert committed changes to only a single LookML file?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: March 7, 2021 There is not a way to revert changes to only certain files in Looker's UI, or really in Git itself. Git thinks in terms of commits, not individual files.Go to the git repo itself; it should have versioning on each file. Copy the version of the file that you want and paste that into Looker's UI.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

1310
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why are my dashboard tiles blank?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 10, 2021 There's probably an error stopping the query from coming through. Click "Explore from here" from the "Tree Dots" menu of one of the tiles to see if there is any error.One reason is that the user might not have the permission to see the data. This could be either Permissions set or Model access.Another reason is if access filter user attributes are unset.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

2850
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to access a project deploy key after Github setup has finishedKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 7, 2021  You can get to this on the command line, if you host your own Looker instance. As of 4.8+, the public and private key live at:~/looker/deploy_keys/<project_name>/id_rsa.pub~/looker/deploy_keys/<project_name>/id_rsaAs of 4.18+, you can also get the project public key via a Looker API endpoint.In the UI, if you reset the connection and use the same repo name, then the same deploy key is used, so you can also access it there.Note: If your instance is clustered, then it'll be in the ~/lookershare/ directory This content is subject to limited support.                  

750
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to join the same table twice (self-join)Knowledge Drops

Last Tested: March 22, 2021In a given explore, each join name must be unique. To self-join the same table multiple times you can use the from parameter, as mentioned in the docs, to change the "join" name of the table.In this example, we join in person to order twice, with different names and different joining dimensions.explore: order { join: person { sql_on: ${order.customer_id} = ${person.id} ;; } join: representative { from: person sql_on: ${order.representative_id} = ${representative.id} ;; }}This content is subject to limited support.                  

26620
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I change a model/explore of a Look?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 21, 2021  If you want to change only the model or explore of a Look, you'll need to use the share URL of the explore and change the relevant parameters. Keep in mind that the same fields, etc need to be available in your new model/explore.1. Click "Explore From Here".2. Click the gear, then select "Share".3. Copy the Expanded URL and paste it somewhere else like your browser. Don't hit it yet, or it will turn into a shortened URL!4. Change the relevant parts of the URL. The URL takes the form:https://HOSTNAME.looker.com/explore/MODEL_NAME/EXPLORE_NAME?fields=...5. Hit the URL, then save the explore as a Look.     This content is subject to limited support.                

350
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we use Bitbucket on a port other than 7999?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Mar 7, 2021In version 7.6+, yes you can use another port in the git URL for BitBucket connections!Pre-7.6, only port 7999 can be used when connecting BitBucket.You can technically select "custom git server" instead, but then you lose the ability to use pull requests and view links to BitBucket.     This content is subject to limited support.                

700
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago

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