explore

This page refers to the explore parameter that is part of a model.

explore can also be used as part of a dashboard filter, described on the Dashboard parameters documentation page.

explore can also be used as part of a dashboard element. A representative example of its usage is provided on the Column chart parameters for LookML dashboards documentation page.

Usage

explore: explore_name { . . . }
Hierarchy
explore
Default Value
None

Accepts
The name of an existing view, or a name for the explore when using from

Special Rules
explore names must be unique within a given model

Definition

If there is a plus sign (+) in front of the Explore name, such as explore: +orders, that is a refinement of an Explore. See the LookML refinements documentation page for more information.

explore adds an existing view to the Looker menu of Explores as described on the LookML terms and concepts documentation page. As a best practice, an Explore should be defined inside of a model file.

Explores are typically named after an existing view. However, if you want to have multiple Explores based on the same view, you can add a from parameter to the Explore. In that case, the Explore can be given any valid name, which includes only lowercase and uppercase letters (a-z, A-Z), digits (0-9), and underscores.

explore plays an important role in the SQL that Looker generates. Suppose a user chooses Customers from the Explore menu and runs a query. This customers Explore is based on the view called customers, which is associated with a database table. That table is placed in the FROM clause of the user's SQL query.

explore can have many child parameters that affect the display and filter behavior and that specify adding joins for the Explore. If an Explore includes one or more joins, then those joins can have