Command ignored. Unknown target: undefined when setting Custom Dimension in Google Analytics tracking code

Question

I am setting up a Custom Dimension in my Google Analytics Tracking Code, however I am seeing a strange error in the Chrome Console with the Google Analytics Debugger switched on.

This is my code which is fired on every page. I am reporting to a regional account as well as a global/rollup account and I have created two trackers to achieve this.

<script>
    (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
                (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
            m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
    })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

    ga('create', 'UA-85521872-1', 'auto', 'crmpiccoglobal');
    ga('create', 'UA-85521872-3', 'auto', 'crmpiccoregion');

    ga('set', 'dimension1', 'premium');

    ga('crmpiccoglobal.send', 'pageview');
    ga('crmpiccoregion.send', 'pageview');
</script>

In the console I see this:

Running command: ga("set", "dimension1", "premium")

analytics_debug.js:10 Command ignored. Unknown target: undefined

I have created the Custom Dimension in GA under each property I want to access it in.

Answer 1

You need to use your tracker names in the "set" command, else GA will apply the command to the default tracker t0 (which does not exist in your example):

  ga('crmpiccoglobal.set', 'dimension1', 'premium');
  ga('crmpiccoregion.set', 'dimension1', 'premium');

  ga('crmpiccoglobal.send', 'pageview');
  ga('crmpiccoregion.send', 'pageview');

Answer 2

If you use Google Tag Manager to load your Google Analytics and you don't know what tracker is being created, use this:

sendGa(name : string, data: any) {
    (<any>window).ga(() => {
        var trackers = (<any>window).ga.getAll();
        var firstTracker = trackers[0];
        var trackerName = firstTracker.a.data.values[":name"];
        (<any>window).ga(trackerName + '.' + name, data);
    });
}

docs: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/accessing-trackers

Answer 3

I would recommend to use the debug version of the analytics.js library analytics_debug.js and you will see the causes of the bugs in the console