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Technical Tips & Tricks

Previously internal product knowledge now available for you to explore!

  • 1,744 Topics
  • 406 Replies

1744 Topics

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

17070
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.                  

6860
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.                

14140
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.                

420
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.                  

1580
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.                  

4260
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.                  

1340
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.                  

41150
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.                

800
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.                

910
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I see the changes I've made to LookML?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 7, 2021If you're referring to uncommitted changes, this Doc shows how you can see the changes you have saved but not committed.To see the changes made between commits, you'll need to go to the remote git repository where that code lives, or use git diff if you have command line access.   This content is subject to limited support.                

5580
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Should I make a new project, or a new model?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Sep 14, 2020 Remember that in Looker, granting the see_lookml or develop permission on one model grants the user that permission for all models in that project. This is documented in docs.So, you should make separate projects if you want to partition permission to view or develop LookML.Otherwise, you should just create a new model. Model permissions are sufficient to ensure only certain people can query certain data.  This content is subject to limited support.                

2660
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How long does Looker remember me when I check "stay logged in"?Knowledge Drop

Clicking the checkbox allows you to stay logged in for 30 days.Without the checkbox, you get logged out every 30 minutes.You can close the browser and still be logged in within the above timeframes. The checkbox can be removed with the Persistent Sessions feature.    This content is subject to limited support.                

100
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I preserve drill behavior when using HTML on a field?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: May 13, 2020 You can use the {{link}} and {{linked_value}} liquid variable. This will point to the regular drill link of the field.You can use it with html tags like this:Option 1<a href="{{link}}"> {{value}} </a>Option 2<p style="font-size: 15px">{{linked_value}}</p>If you are adding this to a measure, note that it must have a drill_fields parameter or else a LookML error will occur that linked_value is not defined.   This content is subject to limited support.                

2180
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Error: `Missing dates were not filled. It is unclear what beginning and end dates to use. Try filtering on specific dates.`Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: March 16, 2021 This is an error that comes up when using dimension fill. The easiest solution is to turn off dimension fill for that dimension on the explore.Basically, dimension fill only works on "enumerations." That is, there needs to be a clear start and end point for filling. In the case of dates, Looker needs to know which date to start at and which date to end at.   This content is subject to limited support.                

950
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
sam
Looker Staff
samLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we map [SAML/LDAP/OpenID] groups to Looker groups?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested:  Jan 21, 2019 Yes, in addition to the Roles mapping we create a "shadow" group in Looker for each group from the authentication provider.Docs for SAML, LDAP, OpenIDHowever, this is not currently supported for Google Auth. This content is subject to limited support.                 

1230
sam
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do I get the error: `There was a problem running the validator`?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Mar 11, 2021 Possible Reasons:Missing | before derived table sql statement for old LookML There is a non-supported character, like a degree symbol °, ç, ã include contains an array of object like: include: ["viewname1.view.lkml", "viewname2.view.lkml"] A dimension includes an action" parameter A dimension/measure named 'yes' or 'no' or a reserved keyword A circular reference in the LookML A never ended sql parameter in the LookML In a localization file (.strings), there is a wrong # to make a comment instead of a // In the aggregate table, the timezone is wrapped with [ ] A field that uses the {% parameter parameter_name %} Liquid variable is being listed in the fields explore parameter. You have a VPN enabled. You are using create_process inside of derived tables, without persisting them.It's none of these!You may be encountering some unexpected behavior.If your Looker instance is self-hosted: Grab the Looker logs and search for a 500 event. If you find one, contact Looke

4330
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why don’t my table calculations have totals?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Feb 14, 2019As of version 6.2, there are now Totals on Table Calcs in most situations. Note that not all table calcs have totals and also note that some table calc totals may show as incorrect or "unexpected". This goes back to the overarching discussion of Totals are not Totals.Prior to 6.2, this is expected behavior. The Table Calc columns will not have Totals since table calcs are calculated after the SQL query finishes.ex.A workaround for this case is to create a second table calculation that sums up the original one. This will give you a second column that has the total of the first in every row. For example: sum(${table_calc_1}) This content is subject to limited support.                

14760
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Liquid doesn't work in HTML/link parameter when value is nullKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: Jul 31, 2019This issue is specific to how Liquid handles null (nil) values and how they are displayed as "".Liquid doesn't operate on null values for dimensions and measures. A workaround to have null values rendered by liquid in HTML or used anywhere in Looker is to use COALESCE or IFNULL on the null values to convert them to any non-null value.Examplewhere non nulls and nulls will render in HTML differently based on inserted render style, and hyperlink triple dots only show up if not null:dimension: foo { type: string sql: COALESCE(${field}, "THIS IS NULL") ;; html: {% if value != 'XXX' %} {% else %} {% endif %} ;; link: { url: {% if value != 'THIS IS NULL' %}www.google.com{% else %}{% endif %} label: "Hello World!" } }The exception is parameter values. This does work for parameters of type: number:{% if item_to_compare._parameter_value != "NULL" %}${item_id} = {% parameter item_to_compare %}{% else %} <some other condition >{% endif %} And this works for parameter

16450
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Parameter Fields (Resources)Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Jan 21, 2019 Parameter fields allow you to inject values from a UI filter.There is a docs page on Parameters as well as a docs tutorial for using parameters (which includes a guide for choosing between parameters and templated filters).Example:view: view_name { parameter: field_name { ... } } parameter: item_to_add_up { type: unquoted allowed_value: { label: "Total Sale Price" value: "sale_price" } allowed_value: { label: "Total Cost" value: "cost" } allowed_value: { label: "Total Profit" value: "profit" } } measure: dynamic_sum { type: sum sql: ${TABLE}.{% parameter item_to_add_up %} ;; }   This content is subject to limited support.                

1240
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

External Authentication Into LookerKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: May 16, 2019There are several different identity providers (IdPs) that Looker supports in place of the regular email/password authentication system. An IdP stores identity information in one place, so that other websites can authenticate you without having to store your login information.If you’ve used a “login with Google” button on a website, that’s Google acting as an IdP. Types of IdPs Supported In Looker:Looker currently supports 4 IdPs that are mutually exclusive; that is, you can only have one enabled at a time. The supported IdPs are:Google OAuth (also known as Google Auth or Google OAuth) SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) OIDC (OpenID Connect aka OpenID OAuth)They are all unique, but conceptually Looker interacts with all of them in the same way.How do they work?When using these authentication methods, Looker takes the information of the user attempting to log in, passes it to the identity provider, or IdP, who

5680
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

My model is up to date with production, why do I get "Could not load model " when not in dev mode?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Jul 31, 2018That's likely because the model is not configured in the LookML Projects Page.Tip: Check the Manager LookML Project model configuration settings. The LookML model may not be allowed access to a certain DB connection.Another possibility is that local prod is not synced with remote, so the project may say "Up to date with production" in dev mode because it's up to date with remote prod but those changes still don't show up in local prod (this can happen particularly with new projects). If this happens, we can follow the instructions from this Help Center article on hitting the deploy webhook to get local prod synced up with remote prod.   This content is subject to limited support.                

21050
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Two Factor Authentication BasicsKnowledge Drop

Last Tested: May 16, 2019 What’s Two Factor?Two Factor Authentication (2FA) is an authentication practice that adds an extra layer of verification. In Looker, your email/password combo is one authentication layer, and you can enable a second layer which sends codes to your phone. That way, an attacker would need to know your email/password and have access to your phone in order to get into your account. What does 2FA change about Looker?Every single user is subject to 2FA; there are no exceptions when regularly logging in. However, 2FA doesn’t affect:Logging in with your API credentials Logging in with an external authentication system like SAML SSO Embed Links Viewing a Public LookThere is a “stay logged in” checkbox on the 2FA page as well. Checking this means you won’t have to enter a 2FA code for 30 days and can instead just rely on email/password. If this is left unchecked, or if an admin selects “Require every login” in the Admin > Two Factor page, then the user will have to e

3100
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What is a fanout?Knowledge Drop

Last  Updated: Jan 21, 2019A "fanout" happens when you join two tables and a single value gets duplicated in the end result. This screws up aggregation since some of the values are being double counted. "Symmetric aggregates" was invented to prevent bad aggregation due to fanouts.   This content is subject to limited support.                

20630
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why does the exact same SQL run fine in SQL Runner but errors in Explore?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Jan 21, 2019 In some instances, the same exact SQL will run perfectly fine in SQL Runner and also cause an error when run on the Explore page. This can happen where there is a conflict of field type definition.For example, a user can define a field as 'string' and SQL Runner works fine but still causes an error on the Explore page. If you look at the raw field value in SQL Runner, you may find that this field is actually an 'array'. In that case the user would have to cast the field as a 'string' .Be sure to check the raw values in SQL Runner to suss out any potential field type conflicts.  This content is subject to limited support.                

320
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago

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