Looker Connect Training

Help Center

Documentation

Community

Cloud Certifications

Technical Tips & Tricks

Previously internal product knowledge now available for you to explore!

  • 1,739 Topics
  • 274 Replies

1739 Topics

Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Who is the user Testy McTestFace and where did they come from?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 13, 2020 This user is the default option for Fabio's SSO Embed tool. https://fabio-looker.github.io/looker_sso_tool/This user can be created by anyone with the Embed secret found in admin/embed. Further Reading: Testy's Origin Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/world/europe/boaty-mcboatface-what-you-get-when-you-let-the-internet-decide.amp.html  This content is subject to limited support.                  

230
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Color specific Values in a seriesKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 15, 2020 Want to create different colors on a single series of data based on a specific dimension value?Create table calculations that use if statements to satisfy a certain condition. EG: if(${value) = 'TRUE', ${measure}, null)If true, we show the measure, if else, we show null.Then, we hide the null values from the visualization by clicking the gear --> edit --> plot. (You may have to run the explore again for the (Plot null values toggle to show up).Table Calc 1 Table Calc 2Turn Plot Null Values to Off on VisualizationWhat the end explore looks like:  METHOD 2 [Custom Palette]Get the # of series in your chart Go to the edit panel and click the Custom Palette option which will allow you to specify the colors via a comma separated list. Each color at the position will link to the position in the series. So in this case, we made the 4th series blue, hence the 4th value on the list is the color  This content is subject to limited support.                  

1390
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to drill on a dimension to get the module to popup like a measure. (Measure Drilling on a Dimension)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 11, 2020 Drilling on a dimension will bring you to a new page, but if you want to stay on the same page or use visual drilling like you can with a drill on a measure, follow these steps.If you have a drill field added to a dimension.EG: dimension: height_high {type: numbersql: ${TABLE}.height_high ;;drill_fields: [breed_name,Breed_of_Dog,count]link: {label: "link url" url:"{{ height_high._link }}&sorts=count+desc" }} This will result in an output like this:These links bring you to a new page, but if you want to get a module to appear. You can use a dummy measure like this. measure: dummy {type: numbersql: 1=1 ;;drill_fields: [breed_name,Breed_of_Dog, count,height_high]}dimension: height_high {type: numbersql: ${TABLE}.height_high ;;link: {label: "DUMMY MEASURE" url:"{{ dummy._link }}&sorts=count+desc" }} The sql 1=1 always returns true, but in the dimension link parameter we reference the dummy measure's drill link via {{MEASURE._link}}.In the dimension you can

1410
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Currency Exchange Rate Block with Big QueryKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 13, 2019 Looker Currency Exchange Block Instructions for Big Query​For more information click here.​Here are some steps on how to set up the Currency Exchange Rate Block with a Big Query connection.1. Go to GithubFork the datablocks-exchangerate repo​​​2. Delete Snowflake files in the forked repo.Click into the file and then click the trashcan. You can write a commit message if you would like.3. In Looker go to Manage LookML Project. Create a new project.​​Start with a blank project. Set up a GIT connection to the forked repo.​​Shift-click on the git button and select Pull from production to download files from repo. ​​4. Create a new connection to BQ with PDTs enabled following the steps listed in the instructions here:Double-check the connection by going to admin → connections → test connections.**** If you already have a BQ connection with PDTs enabled, skip this step. ****5. Change the connection name in the model file in the new project to the new connection or ex

2540
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Use Python SDK to convert All Dashboards to Dashboards-Next on an instanceKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 22, 2020 Love dashboards-next, but hate having to convert legacy dashboards one folder at a time? This script will convert them all for you. You just need to use the Python SDK, import looker_sdkimport csvimport pandas as pd import timei=0list_of_dashboards = []dashboards_next_list = []legacy = []# from typing import cast, MutableSequence, Sequence####Initialize API/SDK for more info go here: https://pypi.org/project/looker-sdk/from looker_sdk import methods40, models40sdk = looker_sdk.init40() # or init40() for v4.0 APIme = sdk.me()list_de_dashboards = sdk.all_dashboards()while i < len(list_de_dashboards):if sdk.dashboard(dashboard_id=list_de_dashboards[i].id).preferred_viewer == "dashboards-next":dashboards_next_list.append(list_de_dashboards[i].id)else: legacy.append(list_de_dashboards[i].id)i = i + 1time.sleep(1.0)print(i)#print("list of dashboards-next")#print(dashboards_next_list)#print("list of LEGACY")#print(legacy)n = 0 while n < len(legacy):sdk.update_d

330
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does Refreshing the Page Stop/Kill LookML Validation aka Linting?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 16, 2020 Answer: No To double check, open the network panel, click validate and refresh the page. The /lint internal api call should still return a 200. This content is subject to limited support.                  

70
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Hide Pivoted Series from VisualizationKnowledge Drop

Last tested: May 4, 2020 Let's say that you want to hide a specific series from a pivoted table. What do you do? One option is to mirror all the columns manually with a pivot_where and leave out the column you want to hide. The other option is to use some visualization workarounds.Go to the bottom of this post for a quick workaround how to hide series. In our example below we want to hide the series from the year 2019. This example shows the pivot_where workaround:For the quick workaround:- In the series panel, edit the label.- Go to this website and copy and empty space. http://emptycharacter.com/- Paste it in.- Click on the colour square and insert a white hex code. #FFF worksIn this example we want to hide the year 2019:​Goodbye 2019. This content is subject to limited support.                  

2200
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What does Daemonize mean in the Looker ARGS?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 15, 2020  example flag --no-daemonize  TLDR: daemonize runs programs in the background.If you add the --no-daemonize flag, Looker will stop when the user kills the terminal session on the instance.daemonize runs a command as a Unix daemon. As defined in W. Richard Stevens’ 1990 book, UNIX Network Programming (Addison-Wesley, 1990), a daemon is “a process that executes ‘in the background’ (i.e., without an associated terminal or login shell) either waiting for some event to occur, or waiting to perform some specified task on a periodic basis.”Source This content is subject to limited support.                   

360
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Use Table Calculations to Get Most Recent Line Item When User Has Duplicate Rows (Non-subquery version)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 19, 2020 If you have line items in a table with duplicate ids, but only wants the most recent items or highest items many times you will try to use a SQL subquery to SELECT MAX(DATE) for the given parameter, but you can create this with table calculations in an explore.First, sort the explore by the ID. Then, apply a secondary sort to the date column (descending).Then, we can create a table calculation that checks if the value below the id is a duplicate.Then, we check the date column for duplicates.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

1350
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Admin PermissionsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 29, 2020 What abilities do admins possess that developers with maximum permissions not have?This is not an exhaustive list, but some examples of abilities Admins have that others do not:Managing users create/edit db connections manage authentication methods, session settings, Admins also have access to all models and folders. This content is subject to limited support.                  

240
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to mass add users to a group from a CSV with Looker SDK!Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 27, 2020 import looker_sdkimport csvimport exceptions####Initialize API/SDK for more info go here: https://pypi.org/project/looker-sdk/from looker_sdk import methods31, modelssdk = looker_sdk.init31() # or init40() for v4.0 APIme = sdk.me()#print(me)#### GO TO ADMIN --> GROUPS AND FIND THE GROUP ID YOU WANT TO ADD THE PEOPLE TO. ADD IT BELOWgroup = 28data = []i=0with open('~/file.csv') as f:reader = csv.reader(f, delimiter=' ')for row in reader:data.append(str(row[i])) ### loops through list and searches user### grabs user id and passes that through add user to group try:for email in data:for user in sdk.search_users(email=email):sdk.add_group_user(group_id=group, body=models.GroupIdForGroupUserInclusion(user_id= user.id))except KeyError:print('Key error \n')print(email)passexcept TypeError:print('Key error \n')print(email)passexcept IndexError:print('Index error \n')print(email)pass  This content is subject to limited support.                  

1490
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to display the values along the diagonal here in one columnKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 18, 2020 When we have data along a diagonal and we want to display it in a single column, we can use table calculations to do this! pivot_index(index(${users.count},max(row())-row()+1), row())  This content is subject to limited support.                  

270
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Ellio
Looker Staff
EllioLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do my users not see any of the links I defined for a field?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 6, 2018 If a user does not have the `see_drill_overlay` permission in their permission set, they will not be able to view links off fields (i.e. links defined by using a link: parameter). This content is subject to limited support.                  

170
Ellio
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Ellio
Looker Staff
EllioLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How can I check to see who created API credentials on the instance?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 3, 2018 Creating new API keys on the instance will lead to line like this appearing in the log files, if you have access to see them:[INFO|05ad1|event:users] :: create_api3_credentials_for_user by user 104:, user_id='51'  Note that in the example above, user ID 104 created API3 credentials for user ID 51.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

40
Ellio
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Ellio
Looker Staff
EllioLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I check to see if auto refresh has been enabled/updated on a dashboard in the log files?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 11, 2018 A change to a dashboard's auto refresh setting will look something like this in the log files:UPDATE "DASHBOARD" SET "REFRESH_INTERVAL" = '1 hour' WHERE ("ID" = 1) Note: the "ID" refers to the dashboard ID. This content is subject to limited support.                  

550
Ellio
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Automatic Looker API Auth Token Renewal in PostmanKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 21, 2020 Are you lazy like me and want to avoid having to refresh your auth token periodically when using the Looker API in Postman? This guide will help you to configure your Postman collection with a pre-request script that checks if the current token is expired and authenticates you and stores the access token if it is.STEP 1: Read the articleThe script below is based off the concepts in this article, which is worth a quick read:https://medium.com/@allen.helton/how-to-automate-oauth2-token-renewal-in-postman-864420d381a0STEP 2: Create AND INIT VariablesWe'll want to create the same variables laid out in the article, except instead of the Basic_Auth collection variable, we'll create two collection variables called id and secret. We'll set the Initial Value and Current Value of the three Collection Variables as such:id: your API Client ID from Lookersecret: your API Client Secret from LookerAuth_Url: the /login endpoint of your Looker instance (i.e. https://instance.l

2680
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Removed a user from a SAML/External IDP Group but it isn't reflected in LookerKnowledge Drop

Last tested; Feb 4, 2020 SAML user mappings are updated when the user logs in. Have the user log out and log back in to reflect the change. This content is subject to limited support.                  

200
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

400 Bad Request response from APIKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 19, 2020 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?We most commonly see this response when an API consumer is incorrectly using the origin header in an API call.CORS is only available when using the new experimental API 4.0. As such, any request with an origin header to /api/3.0/ or /api/3.1 or /api/4.0/login will fail no matter what, and additionally, any valid request to api/4.0/ will require that its origin header value is also in the Embedded Domain Whitelist.How do I fix it?The origin header will not work in any of these circumstances:Call is made to API 3.0 or 3.1, or Call is made to api/4.0/login, or The domain used in the origin header is not on the Embedded Domain Whitelist.Further ReadingWe explicitly prevent CORS requests to /api/4.0/login - the idea is the Javascript running in the browser should be doing the OAuth workflow instead, as storing client_id/secret in JS is potentially dangerous. So that means you will need to register an OAuth app as described in the article in orde

1470
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I force a custom link to open in a drill modal?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: May 15, 2020 IN SOME SITUATIONS:You can use &origin=drill-menu at the end of your link: parameter to force it to open in a drill modal in the current tab rather than a new window. There are certain known situations where this does not work, but we need to do more testing to be certain - this isn't something that's officially supported. This content is subject to limited support.                  

1130
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Error: cannot extends [lookml_parameter] due to mis-matched property valuesKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 1, 2020 There are several variations to this error, but one common one is when a user extends viewA in viewB, then extends both viewA and viewB in viewC. In this case, the extends logic seems to conflict. They shouldn't need to extend viewA in viewC in this case because they are already extending viewB (which extends viewA) there. This content is subject to limited support.                  

120
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
11 months ago
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
david.chiaramonteLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What causes a 422 response in the API?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 25, 2019 As per this document, a 422 occurs when the API is able to recognize that the endpoint exists but Looker can't process the request because a required parameter is missing, or one or more of the given parameters contains an invalid value. This can happen when a you attempts to run a Look/Dashboard/Scheduled Plan with an destination type that doesn't exist, or if you're using a parameter combination that is invalid.The best way to figure out what's going on is to look at the body of the 422 response - Looker generally provides very specific and detailed information about multiple problems found with the request when returning a 422 response.Once you post the body of the HTTP response in a word editor of your choice you'll most likely realise the cause of the error before contacting us in support. For example, in the past, a user that saw this error had used this as a body:{ "name": "test_bcp_1", "user_id": 88, "run_as_recipient": false, "enabled": true, "dashboa

3140
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
11 months ago
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
david.chiaramonteLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Sequel::DatabaseError: driver.new.connect returned nil: probably bad JDBC connection string StandardError: skipping regular connectionKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 4, 2019 This error has surfaced due to a space in the JDBC connection string. Check all PDT override sections to ensure that there are no spaces or invalid characters present. There may be a space hiding at the end. This content is subject to limited support.                  

760
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
11 months ago
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
david.chiaramonteLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why aren't my embed URLs working when I send them through Slack?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 28, 2019 Sending our embed URLs via Slack causes Slack to ping the URL in an attempt to display a preview. When that fails, the recipient will attempt to hit the embed URL and it won't work because embed URLs are one-time-use, and Slack--in an attempt to preview the content--used that single-use URL.Send it in a code block using the normal ``` https://mycompany.looker.com/embed/.... ```  code block method in Slack to preserve the URLs. This content is subject to limited support.                  

80
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What happened to the Clients Module in the Python looker_sdk? -- (ImportError: cannot import name 'client' from 'looker_sdk')Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 2, 2020 In the older version of the looker_sdk, clients was one of the modules imported to run functions like the init function.)EG:from looker_sdk import client, models sdk = client.setup("../looker.ini") With the latest versions methods31 and methods40 are used instead dependent upon the version of the API you want to use 3.1 or 4.0.You will most likely see this error if you try to use client:ImportError: cannot import name 'client' from 'looker_sdk' 4.0 APIfrom looker_sdk import models, methods40sdk = looker_sdk.init40() # or init40() for v4.0 API# and away you gomy_user = sdk.me()print(my_user) 3.1 APIfrom looker_sdk import methods31, modelssdk = looker_sdk.init31() # and away you gomy_user = sdk.me()print(my_user) For docs go here: https://pypi.org/project/looker-sdk/OrHere: https://github.com/looker-open-source/sdk-codegen/tree/master/python#basic-usage  This content is subject to limited support.                  

2200
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
Eric_LyonsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

If you delete an embed user does his or her content disappear?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 2, 2020Yes, like a traditional user who is deleted, his or her content will be deleted, but if the content is placed into a shared folder, the content will still exist.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

160
Eric_Lyons
Looker Staff
11 months ago

Badges

  • Friendly Face
    sbrylowskihas earned the badge Friendly Face
  • Helpful
    carriehas earned the badge Helpful
  • Community Star
    carriehas earned the badge Community Star
  • Friendly Face
    carriehas earned the badge Friendly Face
  • Community Star
    Dawidhas earned the badge Community Star
Show all badges
Terms of Service