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The Kitchen Table

Explore the product knowledge we've built up together

2111 Topics

david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
david.chiaramonteLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I break and change a field reference for a single explore?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 20, 2019 Will the break-the-field-reference-to-find-and-replace-in-Content-Validator method not work for your use case because we want to change specific content in specific explores? Try adding a fields parameter like:fields: [ALL_FIELDS*,-view_name.field_name_we_want_to_break] This will surface "Unknown field" errors in the Content Validator, but only for the specific explores you break (as opposed to breaking the field reference in the view file and having the reference break everywhere). This content is subject to limited support.                  

290
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
1 year ago
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
david.chiaramonteLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Are custom filters preserved when changing other filters on a Look's schedule?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 3, 2019 Yes! If you create a report with a custom filter and save it as a Look, you can change other filters in the Schedule modal without affecting the custom filter logic. It acts as a "constant" filter that you can only change by editing the Look itself. This content is subject to limited support.                   

340
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
1 year ago
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
david.chiaramonteLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does Looker validate imported LookML from project import?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 27, 2020 Nope!This is outlined in our docs here. Specifically:This is a good option when the same team owns both projects and can validate changes in both places before pushing to production.This means that errors will only surface in their respective projects, so devs will want access to both the base_project as well as the destination_project to validate LookML changes in both places before pushing to production. This content is subject to limited support.                  

120
david.chiaramonte
Looker Staff
1 year ago
davids
Looker Staff
davidsLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What is funnel analysis?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 30, 2019 Funnel analysis enables you to visualize a customer journey, aggregating user behavior in stages across a workflow toward a specific outcome.All businesses have a target outcome (or many), so funnel analysis is applicable for any product/service being sold. Google Analytics (GA), the main leaders in use of funnels, refer to these outcomes as goals that they want users to gravitate toward, (e.g. making a purchase or signing up for a service). The set of steps taken to reach that goal (e.g. the app events or page views) is referred to as a “funnel”. This is because the typical shape created when we visualize the flow of users is similar to a funnel, with users dropping off in each step.Therefore with funnel analysis, you can see at which step users mostly drop off and use that data to optimize per stage and increase the funnel conversion rate, the % of users who make it through the funnel from the start to the end goal.Read the following tutorials to get a bette

4350
davids
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Types of AlertsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 17, 2020 There are three main types of alerts. Single value- only used on single value visualizations.- should alert based on the value used in the vis (first row only)Time Series- used when there is a date/time dimension on the result- checks all new rows that have not been seen before (based on the time series dimension)Categorical- used when not single value or time series.- checks all rows and pivot values unless a specific row or pivot value was selected when the alert was created.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

580
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
Dean_HicksLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What happens if I manually stop/kill a Building PDT in admin/queries?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 14, 2020 If the PDT build was initiated by the regenerator (sql_trigger_value or datagroup_trigger, the current build will be cancelled, along with the current regenerator cycle. The PDT will remain triggered and the regenerator will initiate another build/rebuild the next regenerator cycle. If your PDT build was initiated by an explore query (persist_for, dev mode PDTs, trigger PDTs that have not been built yet), Looker will wait until the next time the table is used in a query to rebuild it or in the case of a trigger PDT, the regenerator will attempt to build the next regenerator cycle. If your PDT build was initiated via the Rebuild Derived Tables and Run option, the existing PDT will be used. A rebuild will not be initiated until it is triggered for rebuild. This content is subject to limited support.                   

1820
Dean_Hicks
Looker Staff
1 year ago
diego.campos
Looker Staff
diego.camposLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Is there a way for me to email all of my Looker users?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 23, 2018 Currently there is not a direct way to do this in Looker.In the meantime, a workaround would be to use System Activity to get the list of all the users and their email addresses.If we go to base url + /explore/system_activity/user we can see there is a view on the left called USER.We can select the email field and also apply a filter on the Is Disabled = NoThat will give us a list of the email addresses for all the current Looker users.Another approach would be to use the API and the get_all_users() call to retrieve all the users and their email address, then from the result, exclude the ones where is_disabled is true.Finally when you have a list of the users to email, it may be easier to create a group of these email addresses via your email provider, and then use that group in the scheduler to send out to this group of users. This content is subject to limited support.                   

1500
diego.campos
Looker Staff
1 year ago
evelyn.shen
Looker Staff
evelyn.shenLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Liquid syntax error: 'if' tag was never closedKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 30, 2020 Liquid tags can't have spaces between { and % or % and } .For example, if we have:{% if view_name.field_name._in_query %}something to insert if true{% else %}something to insert if false{ % endif % }...we will see this error because the last line { % endif % } has these extra spaces. Removing any extra spaces (i.e., using {% endif %}) will resolve the error.Other possible syntax issues (https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/liquid-if-statement-error/2953):We're missing a % somewhere. We're missing a closing statement in our conditional logic. This content is subject to limited support.                   

13670
evelyn.shen
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Tabbed Dashboard using Liquid HTMLKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 1, 2021 The code snippets below would go in a text tile on your dashboard. The idea is you can break up larger dashboards into multiple “Tabs” while keeping content in one place from the end user’s perspective. The end user sees a clickable navigation bar on your dashboard. Basic Version:<hr><div type="button" class="btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block">Text goes here</div><a href="path to next 'tab' in the dash here" class="btn btn-primary">Text goes here</a>#Add as many new <a href ... lines as you like for more tabs!Fancier Version:<hr><div class="vis-single-value"><div class="btn-group btn-group-sm"><a type="button" class="btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block">Text goes here</a><a href="path to next 'tab' in the dash here" class="btn btn-primary">Text goes here</a>#Add as many new <a href ... lines as you like for more tabs!</div></div>Even better example, works on dashboard-next:&lt

15740
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Text Tile: How to create a footer / unlimited width textKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Feb 28, 2020 <div class="vis"><div class="vis-single-value"><font color="#5A2FC2" size="3"><center>If we keep typing will the text wrap at 500px or will it go across the entire tile? This type of example may take a test on your instance to confirm</center></font></div></div> This content is subject to limited support.                  

450
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why are there commits from a `Lookering` user in my Github repo?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Feb 5, 2020 You may see something like this in your commit history:And be curious that some random Looker github user has access to their Git repo.The TLDR:Lookering is Looker's github user, that initializes branches and does other branch maintenanc-ey stuff. Lookering does not have access to the Git repo, it merely makes commits and merges in certain specific cases.The Long Version:In Github, actions aren't really performed by a user per se, in fact it's not necessary to even have a user account to make a commit. What ties actions taken by a user to that user account is the email address included in the request header. You could include any user's email in your commit header, and have the commit show up as that user, or include none at all. Point is, the Lookering user doesn't actually have access to your Git repo, rather the email address was simply included in the header.https://help.github.com/en/github/committing-changes-to-your-project/why-are-my-commits-linked-to-th

700
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Migrating Repos: Will 'reset Git connection' preserve all branches?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 9, 2020 Yes and No.On the remote repo: Only the prod branch and the branch that makes the initial commit will be preserved. From there, other developers should make a commit from their dev branch or you should follow the Advanced Solution outlined here to preserve all branches.In the local Looker repo: All branches are preserved, but will not be automatically all be pushed to the new remote. This content is subject to limited support.                  

230
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Easy Primary_Keys, no Derived Table necessaryKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 3, 2020 Well hello good Looker! Ever wonder if you could easily generate a unique PK to solve those pesky non-unique primary-key errors? Don't want to add another derived_table to your impressive list of view files to do so? Then this post is for you.While not best practice in most contexts, you can write a subquery in the sql_table_name LookML parameter. # For BigQuery and other dialects with a uuid function:sql_table_name: ( select generate_uuid() as new_id, * FROM schema.table ) ;; # For other dialects, use row number:sql_table_name: ( select ROW_NUMBER () OVER (order by some_field) as new_id, * from schema.table ) ;; # Create primary_key dimension from our new fielddimension: new_id {type: stringprimary_key: yes} Note: On MySQL, derived_tables requires CREATE TABLE permissions on the temp schema. The only alternative for users who don't want to grant this access, but still need to use a window function to generate a PK, is this workaround. This content is subject t

2480
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

No clickable links in visualizations (link parameter)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 12, 2019 One potential reason for this could be if we're trying to use both a link AND html parameter. For example the following won't work:measure: broken_link {type: counthtml: <insert some cool html formatting here>link: {label: "It's broken"url: "tryingtolinkout_butitsbroken.com"}}  This content is subject to limited support.                  

190
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
jamesnestlerLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why isn't localization working? (Troubleshooting LookML Localization)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 25, 2019 Step 1: Verify that a locale user attribute exists, a manifest file exists in the project, and that manifest file has a localization_settings parameter. Step 2: Verify that every field/lookml object to be localized has a label, group_label, or description. Localization currently only works on the values in those parameters. Step 3: Verify there is both a <default_locale>.strings file (usually en.strings ) and a <target_locale>.strings file. Important: both files need to contain the strings we want to localize.For example, if we want to localize id to es id , there needs to be an entry for "id" = "es id" in es_ES.strings, AND an entry for "id" = "id" in en.strings. If there is not a value in both, then nothing will localize.An important note: the strings in both the .strings and labels are case sensitive. This content is subject to limited support.                   

1150
jamesnestler
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jon.allen
Looker Staff
jon.allenLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Which TLS version and ciphers are supported for Looker hosted customers?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 8, 2020 In order to connect to a Looker-hosted instance, the your web browser or API client must support TLS 1.2 with the following ciphers: ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256  ECDSA ciphers are not supported at this time.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

500
jon.allen
Looker Staff
1 year ago
jon.allen
Looker Staff
jon.allenLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to get Looker to display carriage returnsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 28, 2019 You should be able to use liquid to replace line break characters with HTML line break tags... something like {{ value | replace "\n","<br /" }} .  Or better yet, you can use whitespace css. Just checked and it's allowed...  html:<div style="white-space:pre">{{value}}</div>;;   This content is subject to limited support.                   

1690
jon.allen
Looker Staff
1 year ago
J
Looker Staff
Judah_HamaouiLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I count the number of models or views in a project?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 14, 2017 Open the JavaScript console on a project's page, with "Cmd + Option + I" (for Mac) or "Ctrl + Shift + I" (for PC) and navigate to the "console" tab. Then, paste in one of the following commands:Count the number of models:$("#project-sidebar .model-link[href$='model.lkml']")Count the number of views:$("#project-sidebar .model-link[href$='view.lkml']") The output will be a number in parens followed by an array of files, the number is the count of the model or view files. This content is subject to limited support.                  

560
J
Looker Staff
1 year ago
J
Looker Staff
Judah_HamaouiLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What is included in system activity's query runtime?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 7, 2018 “Query” in Looker does not hold the same definition as a “query” does on a database. In Looker, a query includes construction of that query, time in queue, time in transit (to and from database), and database “query” time. This content is subject to limited support.                  

1060
J
Looker Staff
1 year ago
J
Looker Staff
Judah_HamaouiLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

PDT’s won't work with Heroku?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 16, 2017 Not exactly, but there are workarounds.The problem is that Heroku only offers a streaming replica Postgres DB that is a read-only slave. This is because of Heroku's "hot swap" architecture, which basically means that the DB can swap out and become the production DB under certain circumstances, and therefore we cannot write to it.WorkaroundsYou can use a forked database and use the Update Connection API endpoint to change the connection credentials programmatically, but that would be a unique approach. Here’s a doc for that:https://docs.looker.com/setup-and-management/database-config/postgresql-herokuHowever, the best option here is to setup an ETL pipeline to incrementally copy data from production Postgres to another database (Postgres, Redshift, BigQuery, etc...). This has the added benefit of creating a destination where you can load more than just your production app data (e.g. Facebook Ads, Event/Click Tracking Data, Email Campaign Data etc.) to create ev

190
J
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Kento_Tomine
Moderator
Kento_TomineModerator
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we send an unlimited result with Schedule?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 23, 2020 Yes, we can. Schedules sent via webhook, S3, or SFTP can send an unlimited result set as long as the result set streams.Sam explained in this article. For more details, please search (command + F) "Scheduling and Sending" in this article. This content is subject to limited support.                   

310
Kento_Tomine
Moderator
1 year ago
Kento_Tomine
Moderator
Kento_TomineModerator
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

undefined method `applicable_filters' for #Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Feb 18, 2021 Users will encounter this error message when they are in the dev mode and then tried to download LookML dashboard which has not deployed to the prod. Downloads to formats that use the renderer (PNG and PDF) will use results from Production Mode, so if you haven't deployed yet then you should see this error. (If your download is in another format, the download will show results from whichever mode — development or production — you are in) This content is subject to limited support.                   

800
Kento_Tomine
Moderator
1 year ago
kevin.dunn
Looker Staff
kevin.dunnLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Unavailable Ports on Looker Hosted InstancesKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 28, 2020 Here's a list of ports that Looker already listens on, and won't be available for other processes (e.g., SSH Tunnels)Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State PID/Program nametcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:19997 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:19998 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:32000 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:5000 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:5001 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:9997 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:6062 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:9998 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:111 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:80 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 127.0.0.53:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN -tcp6 0 0 :::19999 :::* LISTEN 25756/javatcp6 0 0 :::1551 :::* LISTEN 25756/javatcp6 0 0 :::9999 :::* LISTEN 25756/javatcp6 0 0 :::111 :::* LISTEN -tcp6 0 0 :::46677 :::* LISTEN 25756/javatcp6 0 0 :::9910 :::* LISTEN 25756/javatcp6 0 0 :::22 :::* LISTEN -  This content is subject to limited support.           

500
kevin.dunn
Looker Staff
1 year ago
kevin.dunn
Looker Staff
kevin.dunnLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do I get a "Can't read map layer "file file_name.topojson" from project "project_name"."Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 17, 2019 This is usually caused by not including the entire file path in the file parameter of a map_layer.For files that are in folders, the entire path needs to be included.map_layer: layer_name {file: "/file_path/file_name.topojson"format: topojsonproperty_key: key_value} For files that are not in folders, a forward slash still needs to be in front of the filename:map_layer: layer_name {file: "/file_name.topojson"format: topojsonproperty_key: key_value} This content is subject to limited support.                  

980
kevin.dunn
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Lan
Community Admin
LanCommunity Admin
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to migrate/copy schedules using APIKnowledge Drop

Updated July 2021 Challenge: I want to copy the schedule of dashboard 1 and assign to dashboard 2 using API/SDK Solution: Please find an example script here This content is subject to limited support.                 

390
Lan
Community Admin
1 year ago

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