derived_table

Usage

view: my_view {
  derived_table: { ... }
}
Hierarchy
view
derived_table
Default Value
None

Definition

A derived table can be treated as if it is a normal table in your database. You can create either of the following types of derived tables:

Certain edge cases won't permit the use of the sql parameter. In such cases, Looker supports the following parameters for defining a SQL query for PDTs:

  • create_process
  • sql_create

    • With sql, create_process, or sql_create parameter, in all these cases you are defining the derived table with a SQL query, so these are all considered SQL-based derived tables.

    The derived_table parameter begins a section of LookML where you define how a derived table should be calculated, what indexes or keys it should use, and when it should be regenerated.

    Derived tables can be temporary derived tables that are calculated ad hoc as users request data from them, or they can be persistent derived tables (PDTs) that are persisted on your database using a persistence strategy.

    If your admin has enabled the Incremental PDTs Labs feature, and if your dialect supports them, you can use incremental PDTs in your project. An incremental PDT is a PDT that is built incrementally by appending fresh data to the table, instead of rebuilding the table in its entirety. See the Incremental PDTs documentation page for more information on incremental PDTs.

    See the Derived tables in Looker documentation page for more information on derived tables.

    Derived table subparameters

    This section lists the derived table subparameters.

    Parameter Description
    cluster_keys: ["column_name", "column_name", ...] Specifies that a PDT be clustered by one or more fields in BigQuery and Snowflake.
    create_process: { sql_step:SQL query ;; } Specifies an ordered sequence of steps to create a PDT on a database dialect that requires custom DDL commands.
    datagroup_trigger: datagroup_name Specifies the datagroup to use for the PDT rebuilding policy.
    distribution: "column_name" Sets the distribution key of a PDT that is built in Redshift or Aster.
    distribution_style: all | even Sets the distribution style of a PDT that is built in Redshift.
    explore_source: explore_name { # Desired subparameters (described on explore_source page) } Specifies a native derived table based on an Explore.
    increment_key: "column_name" Specifies the time increment for which fresh data should be queried and appended to an incremental PDT.
    increment_offset: N Specifies the number of previous time periods (at the increment key granularity) that are rebuilt to account for late arriving data for an incremental PDT.
    indexes: ["column_name", "column_name", ...] Sets the indexes of a PDT built in a traditional database (for example, MySQL, Postgres) or an interleaved sort key in Redshift.
    interval_trigger: "N (seconds | minutes | hours)" Specifies a rebuild schedule for a PDT.
    materialized_view: yes | no Creates a materialized view on your database for a derived table.
    partition_keys: ["column_name", "column_name", ...] Specifies that a PDT be partitioned by one or more fields in Presto, or by a single date/time field in BigQuery.
    persist_for: "N (seconds | minutes | hours)" Sets the maximum age of a PDT before it is regenerated.
    publish_as_db_view: yes | no Creates a stable database view for the PDT to enable querying the table outside of Looker.
    sortkeys: ["column_name", "column_name", ...] Sets the sort keys of a PDT that is built in Redshift.
    sql: SQL query ;; Declares the SQL query for a derived table.
    sql_create: { SQL query ;; } Defines a SQL CREATE statement to create a PDT on a database dialect that requires custom DDL commands.
    sql_trigger_value: SQL query ;; Specifies the condition that causes a PDT to be regenerated.
    table_compression: GZIP | SNAPPY Specifies the table compression to use for a PDT in Amazon Athena.
    table_format: PARQUET | ORC | AVRO | JSON | TEXTFILE Specifies the table format to use for a PDT in Amazon Athena.

    Examples

    Create a customer_order_facts native derived table with the explore_source parameter:

    view: customer_order_facts {
  derived_table: {
    explore_source: order {
      column: customer_id { field: order.customer_id }
      column: lifetime_orders { field: order.count }
      column: lifetime_spend { field: order.total_spend }
    }
  }
}

    Create a customer_order_facts derived table with the sql parameter:

    view: customer_order_facts {
  derived_table: {
    sql:
      SELECT
        customer_id,
        COUNT(*) AS lifetime_orders,
        SUM(total) AS lifetime_spend
      FROM
        order
      GROUP BY
        customer_id ;;
  }
}

    Things to consider

    Avoid overusing derived tables to create pure SQL solutions

    Users who are particularly SQL savvy often use derived tables to solve problems with complex SQL queries, the results of which can then be exposed to users. While it may sometimes be necessary to do, it can also miss out on the modular, reusable nature of LookML and can lock users into rigid ways of exploring their data.

    Our general suggestion is to think about the underlying purpose of your SQL query and then convert that logic into LookML, rather than copying and pasting existing queries into a derived table. If you need assistance creating analyses that don't rely on derived tables, Looker support analysts are here to help with best practices.

    Supported database dialects for derived tables

    Supported database dialects for temporary derived tables

    For Looker to support derived tables in your Looker project, your database dialect must also support them. The following table shows which dialects support derived tables in the latest release of Looker:

    Dialect Supported?
    Actian Avalanche
    Yes
    Amazon Athena
    Yes
    Amazon Aurora MySQL
    Yes
    Amazon Redshift
    Yes
    Apache Druid
    Yes
    Apache Druid 0.13+
    Yes
    Apache Druid 0.18+
    Yes
    Apache Hive 2.3+
    Yes
    Apache Hive 3.1.2+
    Yes
    Apache Spark 3+
    Yes
    ClickHouse
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+ with Native Driver
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala with Native Driver
    Yes
    DataVirtuality
    Yes
    Databricks
    Yes
    Denodo 7
    Yes
    Denodo 8
    Yes
    Dremio
    Yes
    Dremio 11+
    Yes
    Exasol
    Yes
    Firebolt
    Yes
    Google BigQuery Legacy SQL
    Yes
    Google BigQuery Standard SQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud SQL
    Yes
    Google Spanner
    Yes
    Greenplum
    Yes
    HyperSQL
    Yes
    IBM Netezza
    Yes
    MariaDB
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure SQL Database
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2008+
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2012+
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2016
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2017+
    Yes
    MongoBI
    Yes
    MySQL
    Yes
    MySQL 8.0.12+
    Yes
    Oracle
    Yes
    Oracle ADWC
    Yes
    PostgreSQL 9.5+
    Yes
    PostgreSQL pre-9.5
    Yes
    PrestoDB
    Yes
    PrestoSQL
    Yes
    SAP HANA 2+
    Yes
    SingleStore
    Yes
    SingleStore 7+
    Yes
    Snowflake
    Yes
    Teradata
    Yes
    Trino
    Yes
    Vector
    Yes
    Vertica
    Yes

    Supported database dialects for PDTs

    For Looker to support PDTs in your Looker project, your database dialect must also support them.

    To support any type of PDTs (either LookML-based or SQL-based), the dialect must support writes to the database, among other requirements. There are some read-only database configurations that don't allow persistence to work (most commonly Postgres hot-swap replica databases). In these cases, you can use temporary derived tables instead.

    The following table shows the dialects that support persistent SQL-based derived tables in the latest release of Looker:

    Dialect Supported?
    Actian Avalanche
    Yes
    Amazon Athena
    Yes
    Amazon Aurora MySQL
    Yes
    Amazon Redshift
    Yes
    Apache Druid
    No
    Apache Druid 0.13+
    No
    Apache Druid 0.18+
    No
    Apache Hive 2.3+
    Yes
    Apache Hive 3.1.2+
    Yes
    Apache Spark 3+
    Yes
    ClickHouse
    No
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+ with Native Driver
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala with Native Driver
    Yes
    DataVirtuality
    No
    Databricks
    Yes
    Denodo 7
    No
    Denodo 8
    No
    Dremio
    No
    Dremio 11+
    No
    Exasol
    Yes
    Firebolt
    No
    Google BigQuery Legacy SQL
    Yes
    Google BigQuery Standard SQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud SQL
    Yes
    Google Spanner
    No
    Greenplum
    Yes
    HyperSQL
    No
    IBM Netezza
    Yes
    MariaDB
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure SQL Database
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2008+
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2012+
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2016
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2017+
    Yes
    MongoBI
    No
    MySQL
    Yes
    MySQL 8.0.12+
    Yes
    Oracle
    Yes
    Oracle ADWC
    Yes
    PostgreSQL 9.5+
    Yes
    PostgreSQL pre-9.5
    Yes
    PrestoDB
    Yes
    PrestoSQL
    Yes
    SAP HANA 2+
    Yes
    SingleStore
    Yes
    SingleStore 7+
    Yes
    Snowflake
    Yes
    Teradata
    Yes
    Trino
    Yes
    Vector
    Yes
    Vertica
    Yes

    To support persistent native derived tables (which have LookML-based queries), the dialect must also support a CREATE TABLE DDL function. Here is a list of the dialects that support persistent native (LookML-based) derived tables in the latest release of Looker:

    Dialect Supported?
    Actian Avalanche
    Yes
    Amazon Athena
    Yes
    Amazon Aurora MySQL
    Yes
    Amazon Redshift
    Yes
    Apache Druid
    No
    Apache Druid 0.13+
    No
    Apache Druid 0.18+
    No
    Apache Hive 2.3+
    Yes
    Apache Hive 3.1.2+
    Yes
    Apache Spark 3+
    Yes
    ClickHouse
    No
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+ with Native Driver
    Yes
    Cloudera Impala with Native Driver
    Yes
    DataVirtuality
    No
    Databricks
    Yes
    Denodo 7
    No
    Denodo 8
    No
    Dremio
    No
    Dremio 11+
    No
    Exasol
    Yes
    Firebolt
    No
    Google BigQuery Legacy SQL
    Yes
    Google BigQuery Standard SQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud SQL
    No
    Google Spanner
    No
    Greenplum
    Yes
    HyperSQL
    No
    IBM Netezza
    Yes
    MariaDB
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure SQL Database
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2008+
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2012+
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2016
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2017+
    Yes
    MongoBI
    No
    MySQL
    Yes
    MySQL 8.0.12+
    Yes
    Oracle
    Yes
    Oracle ADWC
    Yes
    PostgreSQL 9.5+
    Yes
    PostgreSQL pre-9.5
    Yes
    PrestoDB
    Yes
    PrestoSQL
    Yes
    SAP HANA 2+
    Yes
    SingleStore
    Yes
    SingleStore 7+
    Yes
    Snowflake
    Yes
    Teradata
    Yes
    Trino
    Yes
    Vector
    Yes
    Vertica
    Yes

    PDTs are not supported for Snowflake connections that use OAuth.

    Supported database dialects for incremental PDTs

    For Looker to support incremental PDTs in your Looker project, your database dialect must support Data Definition Language (DDL) commands that enable deleting and inserting rows.

    The following table shows which dialects support incremental PDTs in the latest release of Looker:

    Dialect Supported?
    Actian Avalanche
    No
    Amazon Athena
    No
    Amazon Aurora MySQL
    No
    Amazon Redshift
    Yes
    Apache Druid
    No
    Apache Druid 0.13+
    No
    Apache Druid 0.18+
    No
    Apache Hive 2.3+
    No
    Apache Hive 3.1.2+
    No
    Apache Spark 3+
    No
    ClickHouse
    No
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+
    No
    Cloudera Impala 3.1+ with Native Driver
    No
    Cloudera Impala with Native Driver
    No
    DataVirtuality
    No
    Databricks
    Yes
    Denodo 7
    No
    Denodo 8
    No
    Dremio
    No
    Dremio 11+
    No
    Exasol
    No
    Firebolt
    No
    Google BigQuery Legacy SQL
    No
    Google BigQuery Standard SQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Google Cloud SQL
    No
    Google Spanner
    No
    Greenplum
    Yes
    HyperSQL
    No
    IBM Netezza
    No
    MariaDB
    No
    Microsoft Azure PostgreSQL
    Yes
    Microsoft Azure SQL Database
    No
    Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics
    Yes
    Microsoft SQL Server 2008+
    No
    Microsoft SQL Server 2012+
    No
    Microsoft SQL Server 2016
    No
    Microsoft SQL Server 2017+
    No
    MongoBI
    No
    MySQL
    Yes
    MySQL 8.0.12+
    Yes
    Oracle
    No
    Oracle ADWC
    No
    PostgreSQL 9.5+
    Yes
    PostgreSQL pre-9.5
    Yes
    PrestoDB
    No
    PrestoSQL
    No
    SAP HANA 2+
    No
    SingleStore
    No
    SingleStore 7+
    No
    Snowflake
    Yes
    Teradata
    No
    Trino
    No
    Vector
    No
    Vertica
    Yes