PL-300 Practice Exam 2 — 20 Questions

Question 1

You are merging two queries in Power Query. Query 'Orders' contains columns: OrderID, CustomerID, OrderDate. Query 'Customers' contains columns: CustomerID, CustomerName, Segment. You need to add the CustomerName to the Orders query. The relationship between Orders and Customers is many-to-one. Which join kind should you use?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Left Outer. The goal is to retain all rows from the Orders table while adding CustomerName from the Customers table. A Left Outer join returns all rows from the first (left) table and only matching rows from the second (right) table, filling non-matches with null. Since the relationship is many-to-one, each OrderID may have a matching CustomerID, and you want to keep every order even if a customer is missing — exactly what Left Outer does.

Answer

Inner

Answer

Right Outer

Answer

Full Outer

Question 2

A Power BI report shows a bar chart with sales by region. When users click on a region, they expect a line chart on the same page to filter to that region's sales over time. However, the line chart does not respond to the click. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The interaction between the bar chart and line chart is set to 'None'.. In Power BI, visual interactions control how one visual affects another when clicked. By default, cross-filtering and cross-highlighting are enabled, but if the interaction between the bar chart and line chart is explicitly set to 'None', clicking a region on the bar chart will not filter or highlight the line chart. This is the most common cause when a visual fails to respond to clicks on another visual.

Answer

The line chart uses a continuous axis that cannot be filtered.

Answer

The bar chart is not set as a slicer.

Answer

The line chart has a legend with too many items.

Question 3

Which TWO of the following are valid data source types in Power BI that support DirectQuery? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Snowflake. Snowflake is a cloud-based data warehouse that supports DirectQuery in Power BI, allowing queries to be sent directly to Snowflake without importing data into Power BI's in-memory engine. This is possible because Snowflake provides a SQL-based interface that Power BI can connect to via its native connector, enabling real-time querying of large datasets.

Answer

Excel workbook

Answer

SharePoint Online List

Answer

JSON file

Question 4

You are managing a Power BI environment that uses Microsoft Purview for data governance. You need to ensure that all new datasets automatically inherit sensitivity labels from their source data. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

In Microsoft Purview, set up 'Automatic labeling' policies that propagate labels from source to Power BI datasets.. Microsoft Purview's automatic labeling policies can propagate sensitivity labels from source data to Power BI datasets automatically, ensuring new datasets inherit labels. Option A is incorrect because enabling sensitivity labels in Power BI tenant settings only allows manual labeling and does not enforce automatic inheritance from source data. Option C is incorrect because using Purview Data Map to scan and manually apply labels does not provide automatic propagation. Option D is incorrect because a Power Automate flow would require custom setup and is not the native mechanism for automatic label inheritance from source to Power BI.

Answer

Enable 'Sensitivity labels' in Power BI tenant settings and require labels on datasets.

Answer

Use Microsoft Purview Data Map to scan source data and manually apply labels.

Answer

Configure a Power Automate flow to apply labels based on dataset metadata.

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. You have a Sales table. You create a measure: TotalSales = SUM(Sales[SalesAmount]). You then create another measure: SalesAboveAverage = CALCULATE([TotalSales], FILTER(Sales, Sales[SalesAmount] > AVERAGE(Sales[SalesAmount]))). What is the value of SalesAboveAverage?

Accepted Answer

550. The average of SalesAmount is (100+200+300+150+250)/5 = 200. The rows with SalesAmount > 200 are: 300 and 250. Sum = 550. Option A is wrong because it includes all rows. Option B is wrong because it uses total sum. Option C is wrong because it includes 200? No, 200 is not > 200. So correct is 550.

Answer

1000

Answer

800

Answer

450

Question 6

You are designing a data model in Power BI. You have a Sales table and a Date table. The Date table should contain all dates from 2020 to 2025. What is the best practice for creating the Date table?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate Date table using CALENDAR function in DAX.. Using the CALENDAR function to create a separate Date table ensures a complete, contiguous date range from 2020 to 2025, independent of the Sales table. This is a best practice in Power BI for time intelligence, as it guarantees all dates are present for accurate year-over-year calculations and avoids gaps or missing dates that could occur if relying solely on transaction data.

Answer

Create a calculated table using VALUES from the Sales table's date column.

Answer

Use the Sales table's date column directly as the date dimension.

Answer

Enable the auto date/time option in Power BI settings.

Question 7

You are the Power BI administrator for a large enterprise. The company has a Power BI Premium capacity with a single dataset that is used by multiple reports and dashboards. The dataset is refreshed daily at 3:00 AM, and the refresh typically completes within 2 hours. Recently, users have reported that the dataset is not showing the most recent data until after 6:00 AM. You investigate and find that the scheduled refresh is taking 4 hours to complete, and there are no errors in the refresh history. The dataset uses import mode and connects to an on-premises SQL Server data warehouse. The data model contains several large fact tables and multiple calculated tables and measures. What should you do to reduce the refresh time and ensure data is available by 5:00 AM?

Accepted Answer

Implement incremental refresh on the fact tables to refresh only new and changed data. Implementing incremental refresh on the fact tables allows Power BI to refresh only new or changed data instead of the entire dataset each time. This significantly reduces the refresh window, especially for large fact tables, because only the latest partition (e.g., today's data) is processed. Since the scheduled refresh starts at 3:00 AM and must complete by 5:00 AM, incremental refresh can cut the refresh time from 4 hours to under 2 hours by avoiding reprocessing historical data.

Answer

Remove all calculated tables and measures and replace them with calculated columns in Power Query

Answer

Change the dataset storage mode to DirectQuery to avoid the import process

Answer

Install an additional on-premises data gateway and configure load balancing

Question 8

You are a Power BI developer for a healthcare organization. You are building a dataset that includes patient data from an on-premises SQL Server database. The database contains a table 'PatientVisits' with columns: PatientID, VisitDate, DiagnosisCode, and Cost. The database also has a table 'DiagnosisLookup' with DiagnosisCode and Description. You need to create a star schema in Power BI. The requirements are:
- The dataset must include a date dimension table that covers all dates from 2010 to 2030.
- The 'PatientVisits' table should be the fact table.
- Diagnosis descriptions should be in a dimension table.
- You must use Power Query to create the date dimension table using M code.
- The data refresh must be scheduled daily via the on-premises data gateway.

You have already loaded the 'PatientVisits' and 'DiagnosisLookup' tables. What should you do next to complete the star schema?

Accepted Answer

In Power Query, create a blank query that generates a date table using the List.Dates function with a custom column for Year, Month, etc. Load it into the model and mark it as a date table.. The requirement explicitly states that the date dimension table must be created using M code in Power Query, and the List.Dates function is the appropriate M function to generate a continuous range of dates from 2010 to 2030. After creating the table with additional columns like Year and Month, you must load it into the model and mark it as a date table to enable time intelligence functions. This approach satisfies the need for a custom date dimension that is not dependent on DAX or auto-generated hierarchies.

Answer

Use DAX to create a date table using CALENDAR function in Power BI Desktop, then mark it as a date table.

Answer

Enable the 'Auto date/time' option in Power BI Desktop and hide the generated date hierarchy.

Answer

In the model view, create a relationship between PatientVisits[VisitDate] and DiagnosisLookup[DiagnosisCode].

Question 9

Which THREE factors can cause a DAX measure to return BLANK unexpectedly?

Accepted Answer

Division by zero.. Division by zero in DAX returns BLANK. Option D is correct because referencing a column name that does not exist results in BLANK due to evaluation error. Option E is correct because using BLANK in arithmetic operations propagates BLANK. Option B is incorrect because SUM ignores blanks and returns a sum excluding blank values. Option C is incorrect because FILTER with a false condition returns an empty table, not BLANK.

Answer

Using SUM on a column with blanks.

Answer

Using FILTER with a false condition.

Question 10

Which TWO of the following are true about using the 'Mark as Date Table' feature in Power BI?

Accepted Answer

The date table must have a column with unique date values. Options C and E are correct. Option C is correct because the 'Mark as Date Table' feature requires the designated date column to contain unique, non-duplicate date values to function properly. Option E is correct because marking a date table enables time intelligence functions like TOTALYTD, which rely on a properly marked date table for accurate calculations. Option A is wrong because the feature is not required for relationships involving a date column; relationships can exist without marking a date table. Option B is wrong because the date column must have unique dates, not duplicate ones. Option D is wrong because marking a date table does not automatically create all date hierarchy columns; it only designates the table as the date table, and hierarchies must be created manually or through other means.

Answer

It is required for any relationship involving a date column

Answer

The date column can contain duplicate dates

Answer

It automatically creates all date hierarchy columns (Year, Quarter, Month, Day)

Question 11

You have a Power BI report that uses a custom visual from AppSource. The visual is not rendering correctly. What should you check first?

Accepted Answer

The visual is not certified by Microsoft.. Custom visuals are embedded in the report file when published from Power BI Desktop; they do not require a network connection to AppSource to render. If a visual is not rendering, first check whether the visual is certified by Microsoft, as the Power BI service administrator might have disabled the use of uncertified visuals. Option A is incorrect because the visual does not rely on a live connection to AppSource. Option B is incorrect because report themes only affect styling, not rendering. Option C is incorrect because RLS filters data but does not prevent visual rendering.

Answer

The network connection is blocked from reaching AppSource.

Answer

The visual is not compatible with the report theme.

Answer

The dataset has row-level security applied.

Question 12

You need to create a relationship between two tables in Power BI. Both tables contain a column named 'ProductID', but the values in one table are integers and in the other are text. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Ensure both columns have the same data type, either by changing the data type in Power Query or in the model view.. In Power BI, relationships require matching data types on both sides of the key columns. If one 'ProductID' column is integer and the other is text, the relationship engine cannot resolve the join because the data types are incompatible. Changing both columns to the same data type—either in Power Query (recommended for performance) or in the model view—resolves this mismatch and allows a valid relationship to be created.

Answer

Merge the two tables into one in Power Query.

Answer

Create a new calculated column that converts the integer to text using FORMAT.

Answer

Set the relationship to 'Many-to-many' to bypass the type mismatch.

Question 13

You need to audit Power BI activities such as viewing reports, sharing dashboards, and exporting data. Which TWO actions should you take to enable and access audit logs? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Access the audit log from the Microsoft 365 compliance portal.. To audit Power BI activities, you must first enable audit logging by turning on the 'Create audit logs for Power BI activities' tenant setting in the Power BI admin portal (option C). Once enabled, you can access the audit logs from the Microsoft 365 compliance portal (option B). Option A is incorrect because Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is not the primary location for audit logs; it can integrate but is not required. Option D is incorrect because Power BI does not have an export feature for audit logs to CSV; you can export from the compliance portal. Option E is incorrect because Azure Monitor diagnostic settings are for Azure resources, not for Power BI audit logs.

Answer

Configure Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps to forward logs to Microsoft Sentinel.

Answer

Use the 'Export' feature in Power BI to export audit logs to a CSV file.

Answer

Set up a diagnostic setting in Azure Monitor to collect Power BI logs.

Question 14

You are a Power BI administrator. You need to audit all activities related to sharing reports and dashboards in the Power BI service. Which tool should you use?

Accepted Answer

Power BI activity log (via admin API or portal). The Power BI activity log provides a comprehensive record of all user activities within the Power BI service, including sharing reports and dashboards. Option A (Microsoft Purview compliance portal audit log) can capture some Power BI activities but is less specific and may not include all sharing events. Option B (Azure diagnostic settings) exports telemetry data to other destinations and is not designed for direct auditing of user actions. Option D (Microsoft Sentinel) is a SIEM tool that can ingest logs but is not the primary tool for auditing Power BI activities. The Power BI activity log is the correct choice as it is purpose-built for auditing Power BI user activities.

Answer

Microsoft Purview compliance portal audit log

Answer

Azure diagnostic settings for Power BI

Answer

Microsoft Sentinel

Question 15

Your organization uses Power BI Premium per user. You need to ensure that a specific report is only accessible via a Power BI app and not directly in the workspace. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

In the workspace settings, set 'Allow users to access the workspace content directly' to disabled.. Disabling 'Allow users to access the workspace content directly' in workspace settings restricts users from accessing reports directly in the workspace, forcing them to use the Power BI app. Option B is incorrect because removing users from the workspace role would also remove their access via the app. Option C is incorrect because moving the report to a different workspace does not prevent direct access in that workspace. Option D is incorrect because sharing the report only with app users does not prevent direct access in the workspace.

Answer

Remove the users from the workspace role.

Answer

Publish the report to a different workspace.

Answer

Share the report only with the app users.

Question 16

A company uses Power BI Premium with a capacity-based license. The capacity is frequently reaching its memory limit, causing reports to be evicted. You need to reduce memory pressure on the capacity. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Implement row-level security (RLS) to limit data loaded per user.. Implementing RLS reduces the amount of data loaded into memory for each user, thus reducing memory pressure. Option A is incorrect because enabling the Large dataset storage format increases memory usage as it loads the entire model into memory. Option B is incorrect because moving datasets to shared capacity does not reduce memory pressure on the Premium capacity, but may degrade performance. Option C is incorrect because increasing scheduled refresh frequency increases memory usage during refresh operations, not reducing it.

Answer

Enable the 'Large dataset storage format' for all datasets.

Answer

Move all datasets to a shared capacity.

Answer

Increase the scheduled refresh frequency to every hour.

Question 17

You manage a Power BI tenant. You need to prevent users from sharing reports with external users. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Create a Microsoft Entra ID conditional access policy to block external users.. Options A, B, and C are correct. Creating a Microsoft Entra ID conditional access policy blocks external users from accessing resources. Disabling 'Publish to web' prevents public embedding of reports. Disabling 'Share content with external users' in the admin portal prevents sharing with external users. Option D is wrong because disabling 'Create app workspaces' does not prevent sharing with external users; it prevents creation of workspaces. Option E is wrong because disabling 'Export to Excel' does not affect sharing.

Answer

Disable 'Create app workspaces' for non-admins.

Answer

Disable 'Export to Excel' for all reports.

Question 18

Refer to the exhibit. You are implementing row-level security (RLS) in Power BI. The JSON policy above is applied to the 'Sales' table. The user is in the 'SalesRegion' role. Which rows will the user see?

Accepted Answer

Rows where Region is 'North' only.. The JSON policy defines a filter that restricts the 'Sales' table to rows where the 'Region' column equals 'North'. The user is in the 'SalesRegion' role, which applies this filter. RLS in Power BI evaluates the filter expression for each row, returning only those that satisfy the condition, so only rows with Region = 'North' are visible.

Answer

Rows where Region is 'North' and 'South'.

Answer

No rows, because there is a conflict.

Answer

Rows where Region is 'South' only.

Question 19

Refer to the exhibit. You are reviewing the configuration of a Power BI dataset with row-level security (RLS). A user named 'user@contoso.com' reports that they can see all data when they should see only data for their region. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The 'effectiveIdentity' is set to the user's email, bypassing RLS.. The 'effectiveIdentity' property in the exhibit is set to 'user@contoso.com', which overrides RLS and allows that user to see all data. In Power BI, the effective identity is used for testing purposes; in production, it should not be set for a specific user if RLS is intended. Option B is incorrect because the exhibit shows RLS roles are defined, so missing mapping is not the issue. Option C is incorrect because roles exist. Option D is incorrect because the user is likely assigned to a role, but the effective identity overrides it.

Answer

The RLS roles are missing the 'SalesRole' mapping to the dataset.

Answer

The dataset does not have any RLS roles defined.

Answer

The user is not assigned to any RLS role.

Question 20

Drag and drop the steps to configure a scheduled refresh for a dataset in the Power BI service into the correct order.

Accepted Answer

Navigate to the dataset in the Power BI service and open its settings, then expand the 'Scheduled refresh' section, then set the refresh frequency and time windows, then click 'Apply' to save.. Scheduled refresh is configured in the dataset settings, enabling automatic updates at specified intervals.

Answer

Set the refresh frequency and time windows, then expand the 'Scheduled refresh' section, then navigate to the dataset in the Power BI service and open its settings, then click 'Apply'.

Answer

Navigate to the dataset in the Power BI service and open its settings, then expand the 'Scheduled refresh' section, then click 'Apply', then set the refresh frequency and time windows.

Answer

Expand the 'Scheduled refresh' section, then navigate to the dataset in the Power BI service and open its settings, then set the refresh frequency and time windows, then click 'Apply'.