Instructions

1. File Organization

• Standard Views:

  views/[datasource_name]/[view_name].view.lkml

• Extended Views:

  views/[datasource_name]/[view_name]_ext.view.lkml

• Refinements:

  views/[datasource_name]/[view_name]_rfn.view.lkml

• NDTs:

  views/[datasource_name]/[view_name]_ndt.view.lkml

• SDTs:

  views/[datasource_name]/[view_name]_sdt.view.lkml

2. Core Standards

1. sql_table_name: Required for standard views. Defaults are fragile; be explicit.
2. Primary Key:
   • Must be the first dimension defined in the file.
   • Must have

     primary_key: yes

     .
3. Refinements: Use

   +

   before the view name (e.g.,

   view: +users

   ) to refine existing views without modifying the original file.
4. Extensions: Use

   extends

   to reuse logic from other views.

3. Best Practices

• Naming: Use

  snake_case

  for view names and filenames.
• Descriptions: Add descriptions to the view itself if it helps explain its purpose (e.g., "Daily active users aggregated by region").
• Output Format: Ensure the file ends with a newline.

4. Related Skills

• lookml-refinements: Logic for

  include

  , refinements (

  +

  ), and Hub & Spoke patterns.

Examples

Basic View

view: users {
  sql_table_name: `project.dataset.users` ;;

  dimension: user_id {
    primary_key: yes
    type: number
    sql: ${TABLE}.id ;;
    group_label: "IDs"
    description: "Unique internal user ID."
  }

  dimension: email {
    type: string
    sql: ${TABLE}.email ;;
    description: "User's email address."
  }
}

Extended View

include: "/views/base/users.view"

view: users_extended {
  extends: [users]

  dimension: lifetime_value {
    type: number
    sql: ${TABLE}.ltv ;;
    description: "Total lifetime value of the user."
  }
}

Refinement (Layering)

include: "/views/users.view"

view: +users {
  label: "All Users (Refined)"
  
  dimension: email {
    # Adding a description to an existing field
    description: "Primary contact email."
  }
}

Reference Skills

• Derived Tables: Standard (SDT) and Native (NDT) derived table patterns/materialization.