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Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why do I see a ridiculously high count of login events while looking at the System Activity event explore?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 23, 2018When a user logs in using OpenID auth (i.e. Okta, OneLogin, etc.), Looker will authenticate said user once a minute to keep that user logged in. Each authentication event will counted as a login in system activity, which is why a given user might appear to have logged in hundreds of times on a single day. This content is subject to limited support.

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Publishing Content - a Workflow for Authorizing Content as a Source of Truth

We will not be updating Knowledge Drop content, nor do we guarantee that everything is up-to-date. The timestamp published on each Knowledge Drop denotes when it was last verified.This article is written with help and examples by Rebecca Wang, Professional Services Senior Consultant. The Problem Although the purpose of Looker is to empower business users to explore data, sometimes a user can misunderstand the meaning of dimensions, measures, and Explores, leading them to make incorrect queries that result in incorrect content. For example, a user may see a measure called Orders Count and assume it's a count of orders, when in fact it's a count of products in a given order. Any query the user makes based on that misunderstanding is likely to result in misleading content. How can Looker administrators ensure that all content is approved as accurate and credible before it goes into an organization-wide shared folder? Solutions The most basic way to ensure that content is created accuratel

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.

quinn.morrisonLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Do SSO embed PDF/PNG requests count towards the concurrent-render task limit?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 30, 2018 Yes, it is an instance wide flag, it doesn't care who the user is. This content is subject to limited support.

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How are dev branch names generated in Looker?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 27, 2021 It is a random hash per developer, per instance.As of 5.0, you can create and name shared branches as you like, as mentioned in docs This content is subject to limited support.

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

MySQL and groupingKnowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 25, 2019 The ProblemIn MySQL, you can write a measure which applies arithmetic between a measure and dimension.measure: bad_measure {type: numbersql: ${measure} * ${dimension} ;;} In Redshift (and most other databases), the same measure throws an error: ERROR: column must appear in the GROUP BY clause or be used in an aggregate function . Why isn't every dialect as cool as MySQL?The ReasoningMySQL is not the cool one here. MySQL makes some really weird assumptions about grouping. Take for example this query which selects all the "years" in my video game database. Year isn't a primary key, and we aren't grouping by year, so we see several duplicates. This seems expected.The problem arises when we also select a COUNT(*) without any grouping. As expected, in this query we get back one row with the full count of records. But we also see the "year" here as well, with a random value chosen. Most databases would have errored here instead of showing us a year.While this may se

samLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does Looker perform Git garbage collection?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Aug 6, 2018 Looker performs garbage collection only on startup, and only if garbage collection hasn't been done on the given repo for over 30 days.It includes both prod and dev folders. It's smart enough to perform this in the shared filesystem in the case of a cluster. This content is subject to limited support.

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

5 Ways Looker makes Firebase Analytics Data in BigQuery Useful

This content, written by Ernesto Ongaro, was initially posted in Looker Blog on Nov 22, 2019. The content is subject to limited support.The best apps today use a data-driven approach to make them successful. Knowing which segments of users stick around and get the most value (and in turn give you the most revenue) shouldn’t be a guessing game, it should be an exact science. Millions of modern apps are written in Google’s backend application development platform, Firebase. Firebase contains over 18 tools to help application developers build, improve, and grow any app. If you’ve used apps from Venmo, The Economist, or The New York Times, then you’ve used Firebase. There are a few moving pieces here, so let’s introduce them. Cloud Firestore is a database to store your application events, where they can then be analyzed in Firebase Analytics. Firebase Analytics offers some great out of the box functionality, but a lot of growing companies run out of runway with it, and their analytical que

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

My custom TopoJSON is freezing my browser! What do I do?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: May 13, 2020Check the filesize of the TopoJSON. We recommend a 2MB or less file. Sites like mapshaper.org can help with cutting filesize, by reducing the number of shapes. This content is subject to limited support.

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Multiple Schemas with Shared Tables Can Use a Single View Accessed with Parameterized Table Names

We will not be updating Knowledge Drop content, nor do we guarantee that everything is up-to-date. The timestamp published on each Knowledge Drop denotes when it was last verified.Author: Lindsey Meyer If you have multiple schemas with shared tables in your database, these shared tables can be represented by a single view file in Looker to prevent duplicate LookML.But if you have a different model for each schema, how do you tell the shared view files to point to the appropriate schema/table for each model?You do this using Liquid templates in the sql_table_name parameter. With Liquid, you can access the _model._name variable, which is the model name of the current Explore in the browser. Based on the model name, you can have sql_table_name return the appropriate schema.table like this:view: table_name { sql_table_name: {% if _model._name == 'model_a' %} schema_a.table_name {% else %} schema_b.table_name {% endif %} ;;}

chris.seymourLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How do I return a specific nested field (subfield) in a response from an interactive API docs call?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Oct 22, 2018 Write the name of the outer block followed by the nested fields desired in parentheses, like this: field(subfield)Example:What about from an Sdk?Example for Ruby scripts:space(447, :fields => 'id, name, looks(id, title), dashboards(id, title)')Note that all of the field names are contained in a comma-separated list in a string. This content is subject to limited support.

adina.katzLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does a change to a parent PDT cause child PDTs to rebuild?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 30, 2019 Yes. When there is a change to the parent PDT, the child PDTs hash changes and will rebuild with the reason "initial creation". This content is subject to limited support.

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

2018 marks the debut of Looker in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms

This content, written by Joel McKelvey, was initially posted in Looker Blog on Feb 27, 2018. The content is subject to limited support.At Looker, we are honored to debut in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms. Gartner is a leading IT research and advisory firm that helps businesses of all sizes evaluate technology and make informed decisions. Being included in the report at all is a pretty big deal and being the only new entrant this year is something we’re really proud of. Personally, I’m excited that Looker is now recognized as one of the biggest names in BI and analytics... I believe this is a clear validation of Looker’s unique capabilities and our innovative approach to flexible, agile analytics built on a data platform that takes advantage of the power of today’s technology. Analytics evolved It’s important to note that Looker is more than just a business intelligence tool – we’re focused on bringing people together and connecting

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

3 key considerations for embedded analytics

This content, written by Shohei Narron, was initially posted in Looker Blog on May 24, 2016. The content is subject to limited support.You’ve built a great product that resonates with the market. Your customers are enthusiastic, and word of mouth is overwhelmingly positive. The in-house picture is cloudier. Your end users can’t run their own queries, which means they have to wait for someone else to generate the information they need. Because your solution requires moving data out of your database, analysis is complicated and time-consuming, placing your data analysts in an uncomfortable position: just by doing their jobs, they’re creating a bottleneck. Your engineers would love to help, but wouldn’t focusing on your core offering be a better use of their time? You’re now considering adding value to your customers by giving back the data you’ve collected through a new analytics offering, and you wonder whether to build the tool yourselves or buy an existing tool. Enter Powered By Looke

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

3 ways to improve data security - centralize, govern, monitor

This content, written by Matt Ryan, was initially posted in Looker Blog on Dec 12, 2018. The content is subject to limited support. is vital for every company. Additionally, data privacy has become increasingly mission critical due to GDPR and other global privacy regulations. We see evidence of this everywhere -- from headlines in the press to changes in budgets and priorities. And according to : “Data analytics and security will dominate CIO spending in 2018 and 2019.” As the demand for data privacy and security has increased, so too has the demand for access to the data necessary for continued business innovation. It is the responsibility of organizations today to bridge the gap between data supply and demand in a way that keeps with privacy laws. The architecture of the Looker data platform simplifies database security by leveraging world-class database technologies, providing comprehensive data governance, and a robust audit trail. The benefit of a centralized database Cloud dat

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

What does a history status of 'hold' mean?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Dec 18, 2020 It means another query with the same render key (exact same query) is currently running. We use this status to avoid having duplicate queries run against the db, and instead put one on hold so that it can pull from cache after the query successfully runs. This content is subject to limited support.

kevin.dunnLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can non-administrators manage content for embed users/groups folders?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Mar 25, 2020 No, most users end up managing this content in regular shared folders, and give the embed users access to those shared folders. This content is subject to limited support.

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

Recommendations are easier than you think

This content, written by Colin Zima, was initially posted in Looker Blog on Dec 22, 2014. The content is subject to limited support.Getting started When you get tempted into buying salsa in the chips aisle of the grocery store or adding one more book to your Amazon cart that “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”, you have experienced how retailers use recommendations to drive more business. By understanding what customers are purchasing in the same basket or the different goods that specific customer groups purchase over their lifetime, retailers can customize promotions, increase average order sizes, and improve product usage. These models are not only for data scientists - using simple analytics we can get started on the path to a full blown recommendation model. Recommendations in an instant If your goal is to recommend you a website to someone at random, the top 10 websites on the internet aren’t a bad starting point. If you think about it, this is a very basic recommendati

Kento_TomineModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Can we disable curated search by default?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Feb 11, 2021 Yes! You can disable it from Admin > General > disable curated searchhttps://docs.looker.com/admin-options/settings/general#curated_search This content is subject to limited support.

kenelly.almeidaLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Does the access_filter get extended when I extend an explore?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 8, 2020 Yes. We don't need to setup the access filter again, once the access filter from the original explore is also considered on the extended one.Considering the explore Users below, which contains an access filter on the field users.state:explore: users {view_name: usersaccess_filter: {field: users.stateuser_attribute: state_ext} We have are extending this explore as a User Ext explore and not defining the access filter:explore: users_ext {extends: [users]} The state_ext user attribute contains the Alabama value for a specific user, and both explores User and User Ext contains the user-specific data restriction applied. This content is subject to limited support.

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

BigQuery Standard SQL + Looker

This content, written by Lloyd Tabb and Erin Franz, was initially posted in Looker Blog on Sep 28, 2016. The content is subject to limited support., we were excited to announce our support for Google BigQuery. At Looker, we love learning about advancements in database technology because our architecture fundamentally depends on it. The more flexible and powerful databases become, the more flexible and powerful Looker is. We were particularly psyched to explore BigQuery because it’s been powering Google’s internal data culture for more than a decade. When Google introduced BigQuery to the public, the first thing that grabbed us was its unique multi-tenant setup, which means that your database essentially never runs out of storage and never gets slow. This is ideal for Looker, as our LookML modeling language is dependent on querying data sources directly. Another key tenet of Looker’s philosophy is making data available to everyone in an organization, allowing everyone to be their own an

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

Using Snowflake MVs in Looker

This content, written by Bruce Sandell, was initially posted in Looker Blog on Oct 19, 2019. The content is subject to limited support.Snowflake recently announced the general availability of materialized views (MVs). If you aren’t familiar with MVs, they are physical database objects that contain the result of a query, so they lie somewhere between a table, which is a physical object, and a view, which is based on a query but is a logical object. MVs have many uses, including enhancing query performance, encapsulating complex logic, and aggregating data. Enhancing query performance Say you frequently report on a customer’s month-to-date spend and you have a table that contains line-item information about a customer’s purchase history. Using MVs, you could create a view that rolls the purchases up by customer for the current month. And since that aggregated data would always be as current as the data in the base table, the result would be highly performant queries when accessing data o

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Blog Archives

Weather and climate data for business intelligence: Q&A with Weather Source

This content, written by Shohei Narron, was initially posted in Looker Blog on May 5, 2020. The content is subject to limited support.We recently had the opportunity to speak with Mark Gibbas, CEO of Weather Source, and learn more about how they provide weather and climate data solutions for a growing list of companies across a variety of industries. Plus, as a member of the Looker Partner Network, Weather Source now offers their as one of the newest additions to our . Hi, Mark! Could you share with us a little bit about yourself and your company? Sure! I’m a meteorologist who also has an extensive background in computer science and mathematics. This led me to found in 2015, with the mission to make hyper-local weather and climate data accessible around the globe and across industries. Weather Source helps companies quantify the impact of weather on their operations, reduce waste, increase return on investment, fine-tune logistics, deploy strategic marketing, improve resource plannin

Department of Customer LoveModerator

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

Why aren't my logs showing up in the admin/logs window?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Jan 21, 2019 What to do when admin/logs is showing a blank screen instead of the usual code feed?The first thing to check is whether the logs are being written to the looker/log directory. To check this:cd into the looker/log directory run tail -f looker.logIf logs aren't printed, they are possibly not being written or being redirected to another location. Looker needs the logs to be in the looker/log directory to make the admin/logs window work, so they will need to be both written and stored in that directory. This content is subject to limited support.

VincentLooker Staff

published in Technical Tips & Tricks

How many threads does the regenerator process have by default? Rather how many PDTs can it build at one time?Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Apr 23, 2021 This is controlled by the Max PDT Builder Connections setting in your database connection.Docs This content is subject to limited support.

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