Usage

view: view_name {  dimension: field_name {    suggest_dimension:dimension_name  }}

Definition

This parameter changes how Looker generates suggestions for afilter field or adimension oftype: string when someone uses that field to filter a query.

Looker typically generates these suggestions by executing the following query on the filter field:

SELECT DISTINCT <field name> FROM <table> LIMIT 1000

If the field is in a large table, this query can be too slow or create too large a database load.

By usingsuggest_dimension, you can make Looker query an alternative dimension for the suggestion values. If that dimension is defined in a different Explore,suggest_explore tells Looker where to find it. In this case, include both the view name where the dimension is defined and the dimension name in the formatview_name.field_name. In addition, ensure that the view isjoined to the Explore that is specified in thesuggest_explore parameter.

If the dimension is defined in the current view,suggest_explore is not required.

Examples

In this example, instead of looking through a huge list of user names from theevent Explore, we've told Looker to query the names from auser Explore instead:

dimension: event_user_name {  type: string  sql: ${TABLE}.event_user_name ;;  suggest_explore: user  suggest_dimension: user.name}

In this example, rather than a different Explore, the suggestion uses a dimension in another view joined to the same Explore:

dimension: event_company_name {  type: string  sql: ${TABLE}.event_company_name ;;  suggest_dimension: company.name}

Things to know

Fields withsuggest_dimension will not be affected bylinked filters in dashboards.