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2115 Topics

srinija.godavarthi
Looker Staff
srinija.godavarthiLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Startup script scheduler flagsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 18, 2019 Changing --scheduler-threads=<i> is a good idea if you would like to limit the amount of schedules that are processed at one time, and the rest would be queued up. So if you just want to decrease the amount that would execute at one time down from 3 (default threads) that would be a good way to change that.As of version 6.18, the unlimited pool is set separately from the above via the --unlimited-scheduler-threads=<i> flag. In previous versions --unlimited-scheduler-threads was ignored and the pool was set to the same number of threads as --scheduler-threadsscheduler-query-limit=<i> flag (default: 10) : If a dashboard that has 20 tiles on it is scheduled, 10 would be queued.*Note that this limit is PER node, so in the first flags case, if there are 10 nodes, then there would be 30 threads available, etc. This content is subject to limited support.                  

840
srinija.godavarthi
Looker Staff
1 year ago
srinija.godavarthi
Looker Staff
srinija.godavarthiLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Multiple Embed SessionsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: May 8, 2020 Q: If an embed user uses multiple sso_embed URLs, will we create multiple sessions for them? A: No, only one session at a time.  If force_logout_login=true it will start a new session, otherwise it will stay on the existing session.Q:  Is it possible to have multiple sessions with different users across multiple tabs in a browser? A: No, because of cookies. This content is subject to limited support.                  

820
srinija.godavarthi
Looker Staff
1 year ago
srinija.godavarthi
Looker Staff
srinija.godavarthiLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Hiding folders in the IDEKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 17, 2020 There's currently no way to hide folders in the IDE, but a workaround is to "tag" the current version on github, and then delete the files, then if you want to see the old files you could navigate to the tag.https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18216991/create-a-tag-in-a-github-repositoryOnce you have a tag, called for example "last-rev-with-old-lookml" then you can look at the files a https://github.com/ACCOUNT/REPO/tree/last-rev-with-old-lookml so you could bookmark that and keep it as a reference for example. This content is subject to limited support.                   

350
srinija.godavarthi
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Taylor_O_Meara
Looker Staff
Taylor_O_MearaLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What to model in-database (or in-ETL) versus in LookMLKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 1, 2020 This article: How do you decide what to model in dbt vs LookML? gives an outline. Substitute dbt for any other ETL or database-layer transformation tool. The key points are that LookML is best for modeling query-time transformations in an iterative way. LookML is best for Query-time transformations.  Query-time transformations are good for: giving maximum flexibility for the end users. The article section "Should I calculate metrics in dbt or Looker?" explains how there are infinite combinations of any data set: don't try to predict every combination and constrain your end-users with pre-built tables. Give them a GUI to combine pieces on their own. Before you model something in the database, ask yourself, "Will this limit the end users' freedom to get the details they need?" Query-time transformations are not ideal for: computationally heavy calculations that are frequently required. For example, maybe 2 tables are always joined together, and it would make sen

7240
Taylor_O_Meara
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Taylor_O_Meara
Looker Staff
Taylor_O_MearaLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to increase dashboard text tile widthKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 11, 2020 The ProblemDashboard Text tile width cannot be edited, and the default width is surprisingly narrow. Even with HTML inside of the text tile. There is a feature request you can vote for on our feedback system: Adjust text box widthA SolutionThere are two possible workarounds:Create LookML object with HTML parameter, and display it on dashboard as a single tile visualization. Use div class = vis to trick the text tile into thinking it's a single value visualization, then insert the text you want. Insert the following into the text tile body:<div class="vis"><div class="vis-single-value"><font color="#5A2FC2" size="6" ><center><b>Using div class = vis we get a white background, and override the 500px default. See? The text goes as wide as the tile</b></center></font></div></div> This content is subject to limited support.                   

3590
Taylor_O_Meara
Looker Staff
1 year ago
V
Looker Staff
vishal.dharmadhikariLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Do access grants cascade or apply to fields that reference a field with an access grant?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 19, 2020 No, access grants do not have cascading restrictions. Therefore with the existing functionality, every object needs to be explicitly defined with an access grant.If we have the below LookML and do a sum on a dimension that has an access grant, we'll see the same results when we delete the required access grant from the dimension. So we will need to define the required access grant for both fields to correctly restrict the information.dimension: dim1 {required_access_grants: [sensitive_info]type: numbersql: ${TABLE}.col1 ;;} measure: sum_of_dim1 {type:sumsql: ${dim1};;} This content is subject to limited support.                   

210
V
Looker Staff
1 year ago
V
Looker Staff
vishal.dharmadhikariLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Remote dependency error: `Problem cloning remote dependency: Unable to reach repository at {url}. The URL may be incorrect or you have not configured credentials. Check your manifest`Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 25, 2021 If a user is running into this error message while trying to update dependencies, check whether the import credentials are valid.To do that, open up the Import Credentials page under Project Settings.Running this test should provide a descriptive reason on why the error message is being thrown. If the READ_ACCESS test fails, re-configure the Git connection to the repo.Authorize the provided SSH public key in the project repository’s host by adding it as a deploy key. Write access is not required. This content is subject to limited support.                   

4152
V
Looker Staff
11 months ago
V
Looker Staff
vishal.dharmadhikariLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why can't I save a LookML file? "Save Error" when trying to save in IDEKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 31, 2020 The ProblemWhen attempting to save a LookML file, the save button will turn red when you click it:The ExplanationThere are several possible causes.Expecting 'end_of_file', 'keyword', got '}'There are a couple things that could trigger this error message:The most common trigger for this is a syntax problem, such as a missing or extra end curly brace. To check this, we can fold all the LookML objects in the file to see if everything folds as expected. Folding LookML keyboard shortcuts We have 2+ IDE tabs open and we are trying to save in the tab that is not as updated as the other(s). There are two people making changes to the same file and when one saves first, the other gets the save error when trying to save their changes.400 Error in the JS consoleWe have seen this with LookML dashboards with missing or mis-aligned syntax. In this case there was no other indication in the IDE, and there is an error 400 in the console. Please reach out to Looker Support if y

17590
V
Looker Staff
1 year ago
V
Looker Staff
vishal.dharmadhikariLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Git Error: Pull Production Failed Fetching from origin: Merge of revisions `commit hash1`, `commit hash2` with base `commit hash3` using strategy recursive resulted in: Failed. Pull incompleteKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 19, 2020 If a user is running into this error message, have them:commit any change (can be a comment or a new line) then pull from productionFull error message is usually:Pull Production FailedFetching from origin:Merge of revisions ddbacf28c84dcb493d0c4dc7ccb901cc60c00e34, 0a32809129aa7bae0de5430026a23a824b3c88fd with base d0de05f89c9b7e122dcdb121d0f6e4ec21b9d42a using strategy recursive resulted in: Failed.Pull incompleteThis content is subject to limited support.                   

210
V
Looker Staff
1 year ago
xin
Looker Staff
xinLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How to limit the date query range within 100 daysKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 8, 2019 Sometimes admins might want to limit the number of days their users can query to save the datawarehouse cost, for example, they want their users can only query no more than 100 days of range. The solution is using sql_always_where with date_start and date_end liquid parameters:sql_always_where:(orders_1.created_at<=COALESCE({% date_start orders_1.created_date %}, {% date_end orders_1.created_date %}) AND orders_1.created_at > date_add(COALESCE({% date_start orders_1.created_date %}, {% date_end orders_1.created_date %}), interval -100 day)OR orders_1.created_at>=COALESCE({% date_start orders_1.created_date %}, {% date_end orders_1.created_date %}) AND orders_1.created_at < date_add(COALESCE({% date_start orders_1.created_date %}, {% date_end orders_1.created_date %}), interval 100 day));; For example, when we query "is before 2019-08-01", this is the generated sql:WHERE ((orders_1.created_at < (TIMESTAMP('2019-08-01')))) AND ((orders_1.created_at

1200
xin
Looker Staff
1 year ago
xin
Looker Staff
xinLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why does my embed dashboard load data only in incognito mode but not the normal mode?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 31, 2019 The SituationEmbedded dashboard loads the tiles correctly in incognito mode, but when you open it in a regular window, then the tiles shows only a dash "-". It looks like the dashboard didn't run at all.The SolutionAs you can open it in incognito mode, it's likely your url is generated correctly. Therefore, the issue might lie in the browser cookies persisting a previous session rather than letting the embed URL create a new session. Let's double check their embed url and see if force_logout_login is set to false - if so, set it to true and try again.We usually suggest force_logout_login to true . When it's false, it might create some unexpected results, and we haven't seen a good use case for setting it to false. This content is subject to limited support.                  

1830
xin
Looker Staff
1 year ago
xin
Looker Staff
xinLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Action hub admin panel is empty or missing optionsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 25, 2018If you see there's an empty list, or if an option doesn't appear that you expect to see, click refresh button on the page and see if all the items show up. This content is subject to limited support.                   

190
xin
Looker Staff
1 year ago
xin
Looker Staff
xinLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How can I convert "m/d/y hh:mm:ss" to timestamp?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 12, 2018 You may encounter this problem if you have a datetime field string that cannot be used directly into a time dimension_group.For example, the original data is `7/31/2018 2:20:59`, and you want to convert it into a timestamp `2018-07-31T02:20:59`.Here's an example how we do it on Bigquery:SELECT PARSE_DATETIME('%m/%e/%Y %k:%M:%S',table1.datetime) AS table1_datetimeFROM `bigquery.schema.table1`AS table1GROUP BY 1ORDER BY 1 DESCLIMIT 5 We used a PARSE_DATETIME() function, and reference each Format Elements individually. The returned value is DATETIME.In the LookML: we'll make sure we cast the above parse value from datetime to timestampdimension_group: datetime {type: timetimeframes: [second, minute, hour, date, month, raw]sql: cast(PARSE_DATETIME('%m/%e/%Y %k:%M:%S',table1.datetime) as timestamp);;} A list of Format Elements in Bigquery: https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/reference/standard-sql/functions-and-operators#supported-format-elements-for-datetimePAR

10240
xin
Looker Staff
1 year ago
Zam
ZamMember
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Creating a download URL from an explore URLKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 12, 2019 There is a feature that allows us to format the explore results in different data formats. The way to do so is by placing the format with a period directly before the ? in the url. An example of this is as follows:https://instance.looker.com/explore/ecommerce/orders.json?qid=6RtsysyjzbLagLEUC0V2fM Notice the .json right after orders, which is the explore name. The formats that you may use are anything you can use in downloads.csv json html txt mdImportant note: This is only for /explore/ endpoints. The /looks endpoint has a different backend and does not support this functionality. This content is subject to limited support.                  

1080
Zam
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Schedule Failed to Send (data action) {"webhook_id":null,"success":false,"refresh_query":false,"message":null,"validation_errors":null}Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 17, 2019 With storage Action Hub integrations, you may run into schedules failing with the {"webhook_id":null,"success":false,"refresh_query":false,"message":null,"validation_errors":null} message in the Admin > Scheduler > History panel.Check to see if you have a file named specified in the schedule, as this can cause this error. Also test if the set-up of the Action integration is valid (Admin > Action > Settings and test). This was seen in Google Cloud Storage and Azure Storage. This content is subject to limited support.                   

450
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

Does a manual rebuild show up in the Admin > PDT panel?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Nov 16, 2017Yep - we report it with the build reason "User Requested Rebuild". This content is subject to limited support.                   

90
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 am I seeing "Error: comparison of String with 0 failed" when downloading an XLSX file?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 20, 2018 This was an error that was appearing on release 5.10, that should be fixed in later versions.As a workaround, you can try downloading unformatted results. This content is subject to limited support.                   

360
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

How are 2FA enabled/disable events tracked?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jul 13, 2019You can look forupdate_totp_config in the logs and in the System Activity events explore This content is subject to limited support.                   

80
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

Mirror SAML Groups (idP group name matches Looker group name)Knowledge Drop

Last tested: May 19, 2020 When "Mirror SAML Groups" is toggled on in your instance's SAML settings, it will create a new group in Looker based off of the IdP-side group you input.A question was asked, "if the IdP side group has the same name as an existing Looker group, will saving those settings merge the two groups together in Looker?" No, SAML-mapped groups are treated as a separate thing and if the group name you save when "Mirror SAML Groups" is toggled on matches the name of an existing Looker group you will see the below error when trying to save your SAML settings.group named <name of group> already exists. 'saml_group'.  This content is subject to limited support.                  

4813
A
1 year ago
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
Department of Customer LoveLooker Staff
published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do I see & #x27; in my vis legend? or, ' in the explore?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 18, 2018 Bad news, TL;DR - If you use the character entity reference in LookML for any non alpha numeric character, (an apostrophe, for example) it renders correctly in the vis, but busts the explore by displaying the hex character entity reference.When using special characters within a string definition in HTML (any label param in Looker invokes a change to end rendering), the render engine on the browser has to interpret the character. What is happening here, is that `'` is the hexadecimal character entity reference for an apostrophe, confirmed here & here​As per the second link above, if we insert the HTML character entity `'` before _Word of Mouth_ in the measure label, as shown here: measure: response_share_word_of_mouth {label: "Response share for 'Word of Mouth'" type: numbersql: ${total_responses_word_of_mouth}/NULLIF(${total_responses},0) ;;value_format: "0.0%"}​ This results in the front end rendering producing the desired

1570
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

Does Looker account for daylight savings?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 18, 2018 Yes.The timezone rules for the specified timezone will be followed. This can sometimes introduce subtle logic bugs. For example, the timezone code `ESTEDT` follows the rules of daylight savings for the Eastern Time Zone of the United States.The timezone code `America/New_York` is identical to `ESTEDT` for all dates after the Uniform Time Act of 1966. But prior to 1966 `ESTEDT` is EST only while `America/New_York` follows the daylight savings time rules as observed in NYC. This content is subject to limited support.                  

1660
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

Can I custom sort the explores in the Explore drop-down menu? It defaults to alphabetical.Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 21, 2020 No, you may not custom sort the explores. They will be sorted alphabetically.The workaround is to use spaces or underscores to change the alphabetic ordering since those characters aren't rendered in the explore menu. It also sorts uppercase and then lowercase, so you can use label in the explore’s LookML to give it the same name with a lower case to bring it to the end This content is subject to limited support.                  

3090
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

How can I put line breaks between concatenated values in a single value visualization?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 15, 2018 It is possible to add a line break to a visualization using the html parameter. The whitespace characters \r and \n are usually rendered as line breaks.For example:dimension: break { type: string html: <div style="white-space:pre">{{ value }}</div> ;; sql: concat(${field1}, "\r\n" , ${field2}) ;; }  This content is subject to limited support.                   

9340
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

Set Looker Roles from IdP GroupsKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Jul 24, 2020 You can set Looker roles based on the groups in your IdP. If you already have users split up into working groups in the IdP, this is a great option as it means you don't have to set new users up in Looker directly. It can also be helpful for ensuring all users in the same team in your organization has the same abilities in Looker without having to use the Looker UI. If the IdP is already used for such things with other applications, it saves a lot of admin oversight.The specifics of how Looker does this can be a bit confusing, though. First off, if you have group to role pairings turned on, then you won't be able to make lasting changes to a user's role from inside of Looker when using the default advanced settings options - each time they re-authenticate, their role will be re-mapped based on what is found in the IdP. Second, this process uses shadow groups in order to map groups to roles.When this option is enabled, the admin can specify each external group

850
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 is my table calc not calculating properly in merged results?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jun 18, 2018 This may be due to ambiguous column names. IF several columns having the same name in merged results, the table calc does not know how to pick which one, and chooses the first one by default.NOTE: The ambiguity problem persists if there is a table calc used in either of the source queries. This content is subject to limited support.                   

790
Department of Customer Love
Looker Staff
1 year ago

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