Managing views

This document describes how to manage views in BigQuery. You can manage your BigQuery views in the following ways:

Copying views

Currently, you can copy a view only by using the Cloud Console.

You cannot copy a view by using the bq command-line tool, the REST API, or the client libraries. Instead, you must recreate the view in the target dataset. To assist you in recreating the view, you can use the bq command-line tool to copy the view's SQL query.

Required permissions

At a minimum, to copy a view in the Cloud Console, you must be granted the following permissions.

On the source dataset:

  • bigquery.tables.get to copy the view's metadata
  • bigquery.tables.getData to copy the view's SQL query

Additional permissions such as bigquery.tables.getData may be required to access the tables referenced by the view's SQL query.

On the destination dataset:

  • bigquery.tables.create to create the copy of the view in the destination dataset

The following predefined IAM roles include bigquery.tables.create, bigquery.tables.get, and bigquery.tables.getData permissions:

  • bigquery.dataEditor
  • bigquery.dataOwner
  • bigquery.admin

In addition, if a user has bigquery.datasets.create permissions, when that user creates a dataset, they are granted bigquery.dataOwner access to it. bigquery.dataOwner access gives the user the ability to copy views from the source dataset, but access to the destination dataset is still required unless the user also created the destination dataset.

For more information on IAM roles and permissions in BigQuery, see Predefined roles and permissions.

Copying a view

To copy a view:

Console

  1. In the Explorer panel, expand your project and dataset, then select the view.

  2. In the details panel, click Copy view.

  3. In the Copy view dialog:

    • In the Source section, verify that your Project name, Dataset name, and Table name are correct.

    • In the Destination section:

      • For Project name, choose the project to which you are copying the view.
      • For Dataset name, choose the dataset that will contain the copied view.
      • For Table name, enter the name of the view. You can rename the view by entering a new view name in the box. If you enter a new name, it must follow the view naming rules.

      Copy view dialog

    • Click Copy.

bq

The bq command-line tool does not support copying a view. Instead, you must recreate the view in the target dataset. To assist you in recreating the view, you can copy the SQL query used to define the view.

To copy the SQL query that defines a view, issue the bq show command. The --format flag can be used to control the output. If you are getting information about a view in a project other than your default project, add the project ID to the dataset in the following format: project_id:dataset. To write the view properties to a file, add > path_to_file to the command.

bq show \
--format=prettyjson \
project_id:dataset.view > path_to_file

Where:

  • project_id is your project ID.
  • dataset is the name of the dataset.
  • view is the name of the view.
  • path_to_file is the path to the output file on your local machine.

Examples:

Enter the following command to display information about myview in mydataset. mydataset is in your default project.

bq show --format=prettyjson mydataset.myview

Enter the following command to display information about myview in mydataset. mydataset is in myotherproject, not your default project. The view properties are written to a local file — /tmp/myview.json.

bq show \
--format=prettyjson \
myotherproject:mydataset.myview > /tmp/myview.json

API

The REST API does not support copying a view. Instead, you must recreate the view in the target dataset. For information on creating a view by using the REST API, see Creating a view.

Renaming a view

Currently, you can rename a view only when you use the Cloud Console to copy the view. For instructions on renaming a view when you copy it, see Copying a view.

You cannot change the name of an existing view by using the bq command-line tool, the API, or the client libraries. Instead, you must recreate the view with the new name.

Deleting views

You can delete a view by:

  • Using the Cloud Console
  • Using the bq command-line tool's bq rm command
  • Calling the tables.delete API method

Currently, using any available method, you can only delete one view at a time.

To automatically delete views after a specified period of time, set the default expiration time at the dataset level or set the expiration time when you create the view.

Required permissions

At a minimum, to delete a view, you must be granted bigquery.tables.delete and bigquery.tables.get permissions. The following predefined IAM roles include bigquery.tables.delete and bigquery.tables.get permissions:

  • bigquery.dataOwner
  • bigquery.dataEditor
  • bigquery.admin

In addition, if a user has bigquery.datasets.create permissions, when that user creates a dataset, they are granted bigquery.dataOwner access to it. bigquery.dataOwner access gives the user the ability to delete views in the dataset.

For more information on IAM roles and permissions in BigQuery, see Predefined roles and permissions.

Deleting a view

To delete a view:

Console

  1. In the Explorer panel, expand your project and dataset, then select the view.

  2. In the details panel, click Delete view.

  3. Type the name of the view in the dialog, and click Delete to confirm.

bq

Use the bq rm command with the --table flag (or -t shortcut) to delete a view. When you use the bq command-line tool to remove a view, you must confirm the action. You can use the --force flag (or -f shortcut) to skip confirmation.

If the view is in a dataset in a project other than your default project, add the project ID to the dataset name in the following format: project_id:dataset.

bq rm \
-f \
-t \
project_id:dataset.view

Where:

  • project_id is your project ID.
  • dataset is the name of the dataset that contains the table.
  • view is the name of the view you're deleting.

Examples:

Enter the following command to delete myview from mydataset. mydataset is in your default project.

bq rm -t mydataset.myview

Enter the following command to delete myview from mydataset. mydataset is in myotherproject, not your default project.

bq rm -t myotherproject:mydataset.myview

Enter the following command to delete myview from mydataset. mydataset is in your default project. The command uses the -f shortcut to bypass confirmation.

bq rm -f -t mydataset.myview

API

Call the tables.delete API method and specify the view to delete using the tableId parameter.

C#

Before trying this sample, follow the C# setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery C# API reference documentation. 


using Google.Cloud.BigQuery.V2;
using System;

public class BigQueryDeleteTable
{
    public void DeleteTable(
        string projectId = "your-project-id",
        string datasetId = "your_dataset_id",
        string tableId = "your_table_id"
    )
    {
        BigQueryClient client = BigQueryClient.Create(projectId);
        client.DeleteTable(datasetId, tableId);
        Console.WriteLine($"Table {tableId} deleted.");
    }
}

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation. 

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"

	"cloud.google.com/go/bigquery"
)

// deleteTable demonstrates deletion of a BigQuery table.
func deleteTable(projectID, datasetID, tableID string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// datasetID := "mydataset"
	// tableID := "mytable"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := bigquery.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("bigquery.NewClient: %v", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	table := client.Dataset(datasetID).Table(tableID)
	if err := table.Delete(ctx); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery Java API reference documentation. 

TableId tableId = TableId.of(projectId, datasetName, tableName);
boolean deleted = bigquery.delete(tableId);
if (deleted) {
  // the table was deleted
} else {
  // the table was not found
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery Node.js API reference documentation. 

// Import the Google Cloud client library
const {BigQuery} = require('@google-cloud/bigquery');
const bigquery = new BigQuery();

async function deleteTable() {
  // Deletes "my_table" from "my_dataset".

  /**
   * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample.
   */
  // const datasetId = "my_dataset";
  // const tableId = "my_table";

  // Delete the table
  await bigquery
    .dataset(datasetId)
    .table(tableId)
    .delete();

  console.log(`Table ${tableId} deleted.`);
}

PHP

Before trying this sample, follow the PHP setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery PHP API reference documentation. 

use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\BigQueryClient;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $projectId = 'The Google project ID';
// $datasetId = 'The BigQuery dataset ID';
// $tableId = 'The BigQuery table ID';

$bigQuery = new BigQueryClient([
    'projectId' => $projectId,
]);
$dataset = $bigQuery->dataset($datasetId);
$table = $dataset->table($tableId);
$table->delete();
printf('Deleted table %s.%s' . PHP_EOL, $datasetId, $tableId);

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation. 


from google.cloud import bigquery

# Construct a BigQuery client object.
client = bigquery.Client()

# TODO(developer): Set table_id to the ID of the table to fetch.
# table_id = 'your-project.your_dataset.your_table'

# If the table does not exist, delete_table raises
# google.api_core.exceptions.NotFound unless not_found_ok is True.
client.delete_table(table_id, not_found_ok=True)  # Make an API request.
print("Deleted table '{}'.".format(table_id))

Ruby

Before trying this sample, follow the Ruby setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the BigQuery Ruby API reference documentation. 

require "google/cloud/bigquery"

def delete_table dataset_id = "my_dataset_id", table_id = "my_table_id"
  bigquery = Google::Cloud::Bigquery.new
  dataset  = bigquery.dataset dataset_id
  table    = dataset.table table_id

  table.delete

  puts "Table #{table_id} deleted."
end

Next steps