label (for fields)

This section refers to the label parameter that is part of a field.

label can also be used as part of a model, described on the label (for models) parameter documentation page.

label can also be used as part of an Explore, described on the label (for Explores) parameter documentation page.

label can also be used as part of a view, described on the label (for views) parameter documentation page.

label can also be used as part of a reference line, described on the Dashboard reference line parameters documentation page.

Usage

view: view_name {
  dimension: field_name {
    label: "desired label name"
  }
}

Hierarchy View File view Field Type label

Possible Field Types Dimension, Dimension Group, Measure, Filter, Parameter Accepts A string

Definition

label helps make Explores more user-friendly by allowing you to choose how field names appear in the field picker and in the data table of an Explore. If no label is specified, the label defaults to the name of the field.

Note: label only affects how the names of fields are displayed in Looker content. label does not affect how you refer to the field in LookML or change the value in the database. Use the syntax ${view_name.field_name} in your LookML files to reference fields with labels.

Liquid variables with label

You can use Liquid variables with the label parameter. Liquid variables let you access data such as information about a model or Explore, filters applied to a field, and user attribute values. You can use Liquid variables to dynamically change the label value, thus changing the field's appearance in the field picker and data visualizations.

Liquid variables that return a value based on a filter, such as _filters, or require that a query be run first, such as in_query, will not change the name of the field in the field picker. In those cases, the field name will only be changed in the resulting visualization.

For example, the Liquid variable {{ _user_attributes['name_of_attribute'] }} replaces the Liquid variable with the value of the specified user attribute. If a user had a user attribute called name with a value of "John Smith", the following label syntax would change the name of the field in the field picker to John Smith:

label: "{{ _user_attributes['name'] }}"

In the next example, the name dimension uses the Liquid {% if %} {% else %} {% endif %} structure with the _user_attributes['name_of_attribute'] Liquid variable to change its label value depending on a company user attribute:

dimension: name {
  label: "{% if _user_attributes['company'] == 'Looker' %} Employee Name {% else %} Customer Name {% endif %}"
  sql: ${TABLE}.name ;;
}

You can see additional examples of using label with Liquid variables to define dynamic labels in the Interesting ways to use Liquid in labels Best Practices page.

Example

Make this measure appear as # of Customers instead of Customer Count Distinct in the field picker.

measure: customer_count_distinct {
  label: "# of Customers"
  type: count_distinct
  sql: ${customer.id} ;;
}

Things to consider

The IDE flags duplicate labels in a view

To prevent duplicate field labels in the same view, the Looker IDE presents an information icon by the line number of any duplicate field labels in a LookML view file. If you hover over the information icon by the line number, the tooltip indicates that there is already a field with the label in the view.

The Looker IDE will show this same information in the Quick Help panel if you select the text of the label statement in the IDE: