Overview

The html and link parameters can be used to create custom drill paths in dimensions or measures by creating links to related Explores, Looks, or dashboards.

Custom Drill Using HTML

Following the example below, we can click on a value in the name dimension in Dashboard A, and drill to a related Dashboard B that is filtered on the value we clicked on. To do this, we can insert the URL of our target dashboard into an <a href="...."> </a> tag. After applying our HTML parameter, our name dimension will look like this:

dimension: name {
  sql: ${name};;
  html:
  <a href="/dashboards/dashboardnumber?NameFilter={{ value }}&Filter2=filter_value">{{ value }}</a> ;;
}

This approach assumes that we have a global filter, called name_filter and based on the name dimension, on the dashboard to which we are drilling. This name_filter filter will accept the value from Dashboard A that we click on to drill to Dashboard B. By using the Liquid variable {{ value }}, we can insert the name value we select on Dashboard A into the filter of the dashboard URL, which will dynamically filter our target dashboard by the selected value.

User-Defined vs LookML Dashboards

Note that while the URL filter syntax for User-Defined Dashboards (UDDs) is case sensitive and does not incorporate spaces, LookML dashboard URLs are referenced using their affiliated model, name, and special characters:

dimension: name {
  sql: ${name};;
  html:
  <a href="/dashboards/model::dashboard_name?name_filter={{ value }}&filter_2=filter_value">{{ value }}</a> ;;
}

Drill to an Explore

The URL for an Explore drill will be slightly different. To drill to an Explore using declared fields, we can obtain the expanded Explore URL and apply the {{ value }} variable into the filter we would like to receive the value we click on (here, we apply the variable to our view_name.filter_1 filter):

dimension: name {
  sql: ${name};;
  html: <a href="/explore/model/explore_name?fields=view_name.field_name1,view_name.field_name2,view_name.field_name3&f[view_name.filter_1]={{ value }}&pivots=view.field_2">{{ value }}</a> ;;
}

To drill to an Explore using a set rather than declared fields, we can use the syntax fields=view_name.set_name, replacing the name of the view and the name of the set with your view name and set name:

dimension: name {
  sql: ${name};;
  html: <a href="/explore/model/explore_name?fields=view_name.set_name*&f[view_name.filter_1]={{ value }}&pivots=view_name.field_2">{{ value }}</a> ;;
}

Custom Drill Using Link

The link parameter functions in a similar way to the html parameter when it comes to custom drilling, but includes the label and icon_url subparameters so you can further customize how the drill link will appear to users.

Drill to a Dashboard

The following code will drill to a dashboard with state and age filters:

dimension: state {
  sql: ${TABLE}.state ;;
  link: {
    label: "Drill Dashboard"
    url: "/dashboards/1114?State={{ value }}&Age={{ _filters['users.age'] | url_encode }}"
  }
}

We are again using the Liquid variable {{ value }} to dynamically filter the target dashboard's state filter by our selected value. In this example, we are also using the Liquid variable {{ _filters['view_name.field_name'] }} to pass the original query's filter values into the drill link. In this case, our original query is being filtered by users.age and this filter value is being passed into our drill dashboard's age filter.

Note that url_encode can be applied to Liquid variables like {{ value }} and {{ _filters }}, to ensure that all values passed into the URL (i.e., special characters) are converted into URL-safe characters.

Note: If we use the {{ _filters['view_name.field_name'] }} variable to pass a filter value from a dashboard, the variable must refer to a field type filter.

Drill to a Look

Our link syntax will be slightly different when drilling to a Look. Replicating our example from above for a Look, we use:

dimension: name {
  link: {
    label: "Drill Look"
    url:"/looks/looknumber?&f[users.state]={{ value }}&f[users.age]={{ _filters['users.age'] | url_encode }}"
  }
}

Notice the beginning ampersand and bracketed filter values.

Drill to an Explore

This example will drill to an Explore called ecommerce, and pass the original query's state filter into the Explore query's state filter:

dimension: name {
  link: {
    label: "Drill Explore"
    url:"/explore/model_name/ecommerce?fields=users.id,users.name&f[users.state]={{ _filters['users.state'] | url_encode }}"
  }
}

Again, the Explore URL can be found by selecting Share from the Explore's gear menu, and copying the expanded URL. We can then replace the filter values specified in the expanded URL with the _filters variable.

URL Encoding Other Comparison Operators

If you would like to set your drill-down filter value to a comparison operator other than equal to (=), you can do so by URL encoding the operator.

For example, if we wanted an order_id filter on a drill-down Look to query values that are less than (<) the order_id field associated with the value we are drilling into, we would partially encode the operator character (here, %3E) and add it to the URL:

f[orders.order_id]=%3E{{ other_orders.order_id._value }}

Other special characters can be encoded with URL encoder tools, such as the URL Decoder/Encoder by Meyerweb, or the HTML URL Encoding Reference by w3schools.

Including Multiple Filters

More than one filter can be applied to drill-down Looks, dashboards, and Explores by using an ampersand (&) to separate each filter:

dimension: name {
  link: {
    label: "Drill Look"
    url:"/looks/looknumber?&f[users.state]={{ value }}&f[users.region]={{ users.region._value }}&f[users.age]={{ _filters['users.age'] | url_encode }}"
  }
}

Escaping Commas

When creating custom drills with html and link parameters, you can escape commas in drill values with the filterable_value variable where you might normally use the value variable.

The following link drills to an Explore that will filter the results by the users.city value that is selected:

dimension: city {
    type: string
    sql: ${TABLE}.city ;;
    link: {
        label: "Drill by City"
        url: "/explore/model_name/explore_name?fields=users.email,users.id&f[users.city]={{ value }}"
    }
}
  

If the end user clicks Santa Cruz, CA to drill to the results filtered by this city, the resulting drill-down will return all results that contain either Santa Cruz or CA.

If filterable_value is used instead of value, the comma will be escaped:

dimension: city {
    type: string
    sql: ${TABLE}.city ;;
    link: {
        label: "Drill by City"
        url: "/explore/model_name/explore_name?fields=users.email,users.id&f[users.city]={{ filterable_value }}"
    }
}
  

The resulting drill-down will return all results that contain the entire string value Santa Cruz, CA.

If we want to hard-code a filter value that contains a comma in a drill-down URL, we can escape the comma by wrapping the value in double quotes and then escaping them with a forward slash (/):

dimension: city {
    type: string
    sql: ${TABLE}.city;;
    link: {
        label: "Drill by City"
        url: "/explore/model_name/explore_name?fields=users.email,users.id&f[users.city]=\"Santa Cruz, CA\"&sorts=users.email"
    }
}