How to get the original field name after renaming it?

[igor-okuyama]

Hello, guys. I am using Looker Studio with Bigquery, and when I create a data source in Looker Studio, it already fills all dimensions with the column names defined in Bigquery. One nice feature of Looker Studio is that it allows me to rename the field so that it is more understandable by business users. However, I could not find a way to return to the original field name. I am afraid that I may forget to what column a dimension relates. Does anyone know if it is possible to know the relationship between the dimension label and the table column?

For instance, the table column is named pc_engaged_users_in_last_07_days, and I change the label to % Engaged Users In Last 07 days. Can I easily get back to the original column name? 

[awad]

Hello,

Did you find a solution?

Thanks

[dhooton]

Also interested in the answer to this - I'm sure you used to be able to click on or mouse over the field to see the original name.

[dalogo]

The way to access the original name is through the properties window, trying to edit the field. As you can see, the label you assigned appears in the name and below it the original name.

You can select the pencil...

Then you can see the original name here...

[dhooton]

Hello,

This works if you have renamed a field for an individual chart, but I'm afraid it does not work if you have renamed a field at report level.

[billtbarrett]

Good point - I've never had to look at it from this perspective, but after some thought I have a way that will work, though it's not ideal. This will only work with a BigQuery data connection.

Look for a visual that uses the field you're wanting to get the original name for. Or, just make one really quick and put it outside of the canvas to where no one can see it. Then, click on the "Powered by BigQuery" button that appears on hover (or if you have the header set to visible):

Then click "See job details"

You'll be taken to a BQ window that will show you the query that pulls the data you're using. It's going to be hard to read because LS uses a lot of column aliases in it's processing of the request. But if you can follow the field you're looking for, you can find the original column name towards the end of the query. 

I did a quick example using a field I renamed at the report level, just threw together a simple table with that field only:

Then, using the BQ button, looked at the query for the original name:

Once again, this is not ideal, and I would think there would be an easier way to manage this in the manage data sources window in LS, but currently there's not, and this is how I would approach it if I needed to find this information today. Hope this helps!

@igor-okuyama Tagging in case you don't get a notification for replies to comments; not sure how that works. 

[igor-okuyama]

Thanks for your response! I had the same idea, but it wouldn't be practical for daily use. In my case, I would like to document more the data source and give it more meaningful labels, so that other users can understand it more easily. Unfortunately, it seems to be the only current solution to this problem.

[billtbarrett]

I would suggest you create a feature request to have a way to show the original field name in the data source pane (I would imagine that's pretty simple to implement) using this link: Looker Studio Features - Issue Tracker

Once you have a feature request created and posted, please put the link here for anyone else reading this thread that is interested in this feature so that we can all upvote it for visibility

[igor-okuyama · Accepted solution]

Good ideia, looks like there is already one issue about it. Could you help by upvoting?

[billtbarrett]

Upvoted! I tried to search myself for a post already made but I must not have searched well enough.