Lost with metrics

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1

Hi,

I'm a bit confused about how Metrics currently work in Metabase. I think their behavior has changed over time, and I'm not sure which feature is the current one.

  1. Metrics location

I can see my metrics here:

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Some time ago, weren't metrics managed from the Administration area? Has this changed?

  1. Where are metrics stored?

I would like to expose metrics information in a dashboard, so I'm trying to understand where Metabase stores them.

For example, for table RRHH_PRESENCIA I can see 9 metrics defined:

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However, when I query the Metrics table in the application database, I find 11 records related to that table.

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On the other hand, table ECO_PRESSUPOSTOS shows 5 metrics in the UI:

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but I find 0 records in the Metrics table.

  1. Legacy metrics vs current metrics?

When querying Metabase metadata tables, I also see records with TYPE = 'metric':

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Are there currently two different systems for metrics (legacy metrics and the new model metrics), or am I misunderstanding how these objects are stored?

  1. Measures in the new Studio

In the new Metabase Studio I can see a "Measures" section.

Are Measures related to Metrics, or are they a completely different concept?

Also, I am an Administrator, but I cannot create new Measures. Is there any additional permission, feature flag, or edition requirement for that?

Could someone clarify the relationship between:

  • Legacy Metrics

  • Current Metrics

  • Measures

  • The metadata tables where each one is stored

Thanks!

2

I’ll help here where I can, metrics and measures aren’t features I use. I get the confusion, though. The idea has been around since early Metabase but it isn’t as widely used as it should.

Yes, with the invention of Data Studio and the creation of permissions for Data Analysts, those features got moved out of Admin so non-Admins can administer them.

Measures are a different concept. Measures are bound to a specific table. They specifically define an Summarization that can be applied in a question using the table in the query builder, while a Metric can do anything you can build in the query builder. In that sense a Measure is more focused compared to a Metric.

Not sure why you can’t create a measure as an admin. Maybe you are missing the button? It’s located in Data Studio, under Tables → tablename → Measures tab on the right.

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Wouldn’t surprise me if there was, but why do you need to know?