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The Kitchen Table

The Kitchen Table

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samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can the PDT scratch schema exist in a different db host than the original tables used to create it?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: April 2021 No. Even PDT Override doesn't allow for this.The challenge here is that Looker would have to issue a multi part query: first to the database with the PDTs, and then to the database with the actual tables. Writing a coherent query with joins and such that involves two different databases is outside the scope of our product at this time. The closest we can get is to "join" two different queries on the frontend using Merged Results. This content is subject to limited support.

500

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

SMTP Error: "Failed to send mail: hostname [hostname] does not match the server certificate."Knowledge Drop

Last tested: April 2021 Check to see if TSL/SSL is enabled.That error message means that the host you're connecting to, like foo.bar.com, has an SSL cert which is for a different host, like bob.bar.com. So in this case the mail server could have the wrong cert on it (not usually the case) or Looker had the wrong name.One scenario is if you're using a mail server running on the same host as Looker. You could configure Looker to talk to localhost which is fine except that the SSL cert would be for something like mail.foo.com.Another possibility is if the mail server is using a default, self-signed certificate with some bogus hostname. In that case if you want to use SSL you'd need to go get a real cert. This content is subject to limited support.

2050

1 year ago

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What happens when you push a PDT to production?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 2019 1. If there is a previous version of this PDT in production, the existing production table will be dropped by the reaper2. If there is a version of that PDT in dev mode, the dev mode PDT will become the production PDT.3. If there is not a dev mode version of that PDT, a new PDT will be generated by whichever happens first:a) a user queries the PDT via an explore/look/dashboardb) the PDT is triggered the next time the regenerator checks trigger valuesNote: if the PDT takes more than an hour to build, explore queries that use this PDT will time out while waiting for this PDT to build. The PDT build will NOT timeout as long as there are no settings on the database that would cause the query to timeout.Chat tip: If you generate the table for a new PDT in dev mode by querying it, then push to production after it is built, users can immediately query that table without a build timeout. This content is subject to limited support.

910

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

In the `update_datagroup` api call, will: {“stale_before”: now()} bust the cache?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 1, 2019 Yes, this will blow the cache for that datagroup regardless of the trigger.It means that any cache entries in that datagroup created in the past are treated as stale so queries after now() will not pull from cache.Please note that we need to put an actual value in for the now(), which is a unix epoch timestamp value. One place to find that value is here. This content is subject to limited support.

1010

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What is the matches (advanced) filter expression syntax for not applying a filter at all?Knowledge Drop

Last tested; May 12, 2020 <=0 OR >0 OR NULL for numbers, %,NULL for strings.To get all non-null values, see How do I filter out null in a filtered measure?Here are expressions that DON'T work:NULL, NOT NULL for numbers and NULL,-NULL for strings generate AND between the two parts, so no values will be returned. NULL OR NOT NULL cannot be parsed as a filter expression. This content is subject to limited support.

7220

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How are relative URLs in the link/html parameter handled? (url = "/explore...", etc.)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 23, 2019 To understand how relative URLs in the link/html parameter are handled, it is helpful to understand how relative URLs work in browsers in general. This stackoverflow post has a detailed description of the different types of relative URLs and how they work, but the basic rules are as follows:If there are two leading slashes, it is scheme relative If there is one leading slash, it is root relative If there is no leading slash, but there is a colon, assume it is an absolute URI If there is no leading slash, and no colon, it is location relativeExamples: Suppose that you are navigating from https://example.looker.com/explore/model1/explore1?qid=[query hash].Scheme relative: url: "//foo" will navigate to https://foo Root relative: url: "/foo" will navigate to https://example.looker.com/foo Absolute URI: url: "fo:o" will navigate to fo:o Location relative: url: "foo" will navigate to https://example.looker.com/explore/model1/foo This content is subject to limited su

1570

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we specify other than port 22 for SFTP?Knowledge Drop

Last Tested: Nov 27, 2018 Yes, totally. You can send to that server by specifying the port in the URL.e.g. `sftp://sftp.mysite.com:23/Home/user/desktop/`If you do not specify it, the code defaults to default SSH port 22. This content is subject to limited support.

1550

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How can I have a 'label' field and a 'value' field for suggestions?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 1, 2020 This is a feature request: For suggest filters, have a 'label' field and a 'value' field.There is a workaround using sql_always_where and liquid. The example is for Redshift, you should adapt the code below for your use case.explore: accidents {...sql_always_where: 1=1{% if accidents.accident_lookup._is_filtered %} AND accidents.id = CAST(RTRIM(SPLIT_PART({% parameter accidents.accident_lookup %}, ' <id ', 2),'>')as int){% endif %} ;;}view: accidents {sql_table_name: faa.accidents ;;dimension: accident_lookup_dim {hidden: yessql: ${accident_number} || ' <id ' || ${id} || '>' ;;}parameter: accident_lookup {suggest_dimension: accident_lookup_dim}...} There are limitations with the above workaround. The underlying value still shows up in the filter textbox after you select it, and it only works well for "single value" filters. This content is subject to limited support.

950

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Boxplot error message: "Can only combine like series on a single axis."Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jul 10, 2019 If you see the above error on a boxplot visualization, change the chart type to line and go to Edit Visualization -> Y. We shouldn't have extra Y-axis in the line visualization configuration. Boxplots can only have a single Y-axis value. The boxplot inherits the config we had on the line visualization.Also, check if the Y-axis is showing the 5 measures or "stacked" - it needs to be the 5 measures you want to check. This content is subject to limited support.

670

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to scale labeling for quantitative data on the X-axis of a visualizationKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 2, 2020 The ProblemSomeone sends you the following screenshot from a dashboard tile or a visualization from an explore, and wants to know why not all months are being represented on the X-axis.A SolutionBy default, the displayed points on both axes of the chart scale with the size of the window. The following screenshot is the same visualization as above, automatically scaled to display in a smaller window.How would one change this to force all data points on the X-axis to be represented properly?In the visualization in the explore (i.e. if you are troubleshooting a dashboard tile, navigate to the underlying visualization), click the gear icon at the top right hand corner of the pane. Scroll over to 'X', and change the 'Scale Type' to 'Ordinal'. Note that this can be accomplished through LookML.A CaveatNote that even when the scale type is set to ordinal, there will be times when not every data point will be shown on the X-axis due to space limitations: This co

2840

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can you restore a folder after you delete it?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 2, 2019 Not directly but you can get back to the old state with some work. We warn you and ask you to type the name of the folder in order to delete it for this reasonWhat you can do:The folder is now gone, so first create a new one. All the content will now be in the trash with the exact same deleted time. If you literally just deleted the space and want to restore it immediately you may be able to tell what content needs to go back just from looking at the trash (need to be an admin to see the Trash btw) If you aren't sure which content needs to be recovered simply by looking you can use the spaces explore ( expanded system activity url: /explore/system__activity/space?fields=space.name,space.deleted_time,space.id&sorts=space.deleted_time+desc&limit=500&vis=%7B%7D&filter_config=%7B%7D&origin=share-expanded) to find the timestamp the folder was deleted at. find dashboards with this deleted timestamp (expanded system activity url: /explore/system__

3450

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Table Calculation to Grab Value(s) Associated with Last Pivoted ColumnKnowledge Drop

Last tested: May 27, 2020 TL;DR: index(pivot_row(pivot_column()), max(pivot_row(pivot_column()))) returns the index number of the last pivot columnSometimes a user might have pivoted on a timeframe or date field and as such, the final pivoted column will be the most recent date with whatever associated data they want to show. This was necessary because their column chart visualization required them to pivot on their date field instead of having it as a primary dimension. And in this case, they only wanted to display the most recent data associated with the final pivoted column in the pivot 'series'.At first...I thought max(pivot_column()) would work..but no....it evaluates within each pivoted column, not across the whole pivoted 'series'...So, first, we can grab the pivot col # of the last pivoted column with this:index(pivot_row(pivot_column()), max(pivot_row(pivot_column())))This ^ is really just creating a list of pivot #'s (i.e. if you have 5 pivot columns then -> 1,2,3,4,5), th

4030

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we reference a yesno dimension in a condition statement using liquid?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 10, 2020 Nope, we'll need to use a parameter if we want to add user inputs to a conditional statementScenario:We have a yesno dimension that users are filtering on. We want to be able to pull in that value that users select to display a measure based off the condition.LookML Definition:Explore View (What users see): Generated SQL:Ideal Outcome:Based off the set up, ideally what would happen here is if our user changes the filter to "No" then we'll display 2 in the measure. However, what we'll see is if we update the "Yes/No" filter to "No", it will add it to the WHERE clause and the SELECT statement defined in the measure will remain the same. (Therefore justifies that the yes/no condition isn't being checked)Why it doesn't work:In order for Looker to grab the user selected Filter value, we need to run the query in order to know what the user select (yes or no). However, there's no mechanism within Looker to run the query to grab that value, then input the selection in

1960

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Error: Not authorized to run scheduled planKnowledge Drop

Last tested: May 25, 2020 This error may come up in existing schedules that "worked" fine due to scheduling permissions changing from instance wide to model specific in 6.24.The biggest post 6.24 change is that yeah, for system_activity the schedule owner has to be an admin because schedule content is on the model level and system activity cannot be added on a model set level. This content is subject to limited support.

1000

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting Enabling FoldersKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 27, 2019 If you want to enable folders for your Projects and have a large number of varying lookml files, take the following precautions before you get started.Have all developers check in all changes before anyone enables folders. Identify any files that are using NDTs and flag them as files that need the include statement to be updated. Identify any model files that have include statements. These will need to be translate to the new include syntax post-migration. Check to make sure that connections that do not have PDTs enabled do not have include: /../*.view as this can cause lookml errors. After checking the enable folders box in your project, make sure that no one else is make commits/pushes anywhere else in the project until you have deployed the new folder structure changes. This can blocks commits that prevents you from resolving merge conflicts. If you encounter the issue from #4, revert all uncommitted changes, pull, and push immediately. Fix any issues afte

130

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Is it possible to open Product Ideas? in a new tab/window from Looker?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 31, 2020 At this time NO - the Pendo team looked into this but it's a bit difficult because of how the access token behavesThe workaround/workflow would be to open Looker in another tab to then access Product ideas This content is subject to limited support.

310

1 year ago

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can I use the `value` liquid variable in sql parameters?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 22, 2020 No. You can check the Usage column in the liquid variable reference in docs to see where each variable can be used.why not?The value and field_name._value variables take their values from the results of a query that have been returned from the database. Therefore, these variables can only be used in parameters that can be resolved after the query results have come back, such as the link, html, and action parameters. Since sql parameters determine the SQL for the query Looker generates, they must necessarily be resolved before the query is sent to the database and therefore before the query results come back. This content is subject to limited support.

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1 year ago

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The Kitchen Table

Can the PDT scratch schema exist in a different db host than the original tables used to create it?Knowledge Drop

SMTP Error: "Failed to send mail: hostname [hostname] does not match the server certificate."Knowledge Drop

What happens when you push a PDT to production?Knowledge Drop

In the `update_datagroup` api call, will: {“stale_before”: now()} bust the cache?Knowledge Drop

What is the matches (advanced) filter expression syntax for not applying a filter at all?Knowledge Drop

How are relative URLs in the link/html parameter handled? (url = "/explore...", etc.)Knowledge Drop

Can we specify other than port 22 for SFTP?Knowledge Drop

How can I have a 'label' field and a 'value' field for suggestions?Knowledge Drop

why can't looker read my topojson?Knowledge Drop

A Cure For Merged ResultsKnowledge Drop

What is errorsfallback@looker.com?Knowledge Drop

Setting up an access_filter that applies to only specific usersKnowledge Drop

Having Default Label Value that's Based off a ParameterKnowledge Drop

Hide Filters on Embedded DashboardKnowledge Drop

Can you edit a look's visualization settings using the API?Knowledge Drop

Error Starting LookerKnowledge Drop

Boxplot error message: "Can only combine like series on a single axis."Knowledge Drop

How to scale labeling for quantitative data on the X-axis of a visualizationKnowledge Drop

Can you restore a folder after you delete it?Knowledge Drop

Table Calculation to Grab Value(s) Associated with Last Pivoted ColumnKnowledge Drop

Can we reference a yesno dimension in a condition statement using liquid?Knowledge Drop

Error: Not authorized to run scheduled planKnowledge Drop

Troubleshooting Enabling FoldersKnowledge Drop

Is it possible to open Product Ideas? in a new tab/window from Looker?Knowledge Drop

Can I use the `value` liquid variable in sql parameters?Knowledge Drop

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