# suggest_explore

<br />

## Usage

```
view: view_name {
  dimension: field_name {
    suggest_explore: explore_name
  }
}
```

|---|---|
| Hierarchy [View File](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/reference/param-view) [`view`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/reference/param-view-view) [Field Type](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/reference/param-field) `suggest_explore` | Possible Field Types Dimension, Dimension Group, Measure, Filter, Parameter <br /> Accepts The name of an Explore <br /> |

## Definition

This parameter, used with [`suggest_dimension`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/reference/param-field-suggest-dimension), changes how Looker generates suggestions for a [`filter`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/reference/param-field-filter) field or a [`dimension`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/reference/param-field-dimension) of `type: string` when someone uses that field to filter a query.

Looker typically generates these suggestions by executing the following query on the filter field:

`SELECT DISTINCT <field name> FROM <table> LIMIT 1000`

If the field is in a large table, this query can be too slow or create too large a database load.

By using `suggest_dimension`, you can make Looker query an alternative dimension for the suggestion values. If that dimension is defined in a different Explore, `suggest_explore` tells Looker where to find it. In this case, in the `suggest_dimension` parameter, include both the view name where the dimension is defined and the dimension name in the format `view_name.field_name`. In addition, ensure that the view is [joined](https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/working-with-joins) to the Explore that is specified in the `suggest_explore` parameter.

If the dimension is defined in the current view, `suggest_explore` is not required.

## Examples

In this example, instead of looking through a huge list of user names from the `event` table, we've told Looker to query the names from a `user` table:

    dimension: event_user_name {
      type: string
      sql: ${TABLE}.event_user_name ;;
      suggest_explore: user
      suggest_dimension: user.name
    }