PL-300 Practice Exam 3 — 20 Questions

Question 1

Your Power BI dataset uses DirectQuery to an Azure SQL Database. Users complain that the report is slow. You need to improve query performance without changing the data source. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Reduce the number of columns and rows retrieved by the report visuals.. Reducing the number of columns and rows retrieved by report visuals directly minimizes the amount of data sent from Azure SQL Database to Power BI via DirectQuery. Since DirectQuery sends native queries to the source for each visual interaction, fewer columns and rows mean smaller, faster queries, which reduces overall latency without altering the underlying data source.

Answer

Add more visuals to the report to distribute the load.

Answer

Switch the dataset to Import mode.

Answer

Increase the scheduled refresh frequency.

Question 2

You are a Power BI administrator for a large enterprise. You have a Power BI semantic model that uses a single large fact table named Sales (100 million rows) and several dimension tables. The model is used by multiple departments, each with different row-level security (RLS) rules based on the SalesRegion column. You have implemented RLS using static roles. However, you notice that when users from different departments view the same report page, the query performance varies significantly. You suspect that the RLS filters are causing the performance difference. You need to investigate and optimize the RLS performance. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Use Power BI Performance Analyzer to capture query performance for each user role and analyze the generated DAX queries in DAX Studio.. Using Power BI Performance Analyzer allows you to capture query performance for each user role, and analyzing the generated DAX queries in DAX Studio helps identify which queries are slow and whether RLS is the cause. This is the first logical step to diagnose the performance variation. Option A (increasing memory) may not address RLS-specific issues. Option C (converting to dynamic RLS) is a potential optimization but not the initial diagnostic step. Option D (removing RLS and using bookmarks) is not a recommended security approach and would not investigate the root cause.

Answer

Increase the data model's memory limit in Premium capacity.

Answer

Convert all RLS roles to use dynamic RLS with USERPRINCIPALNAME.

Answer

Remove all RLS roles and implement security at the report level using bookmarks.

Question 3

You have a Power BI report with a page that contains a bar chart showing sales by product category. You want to allow users to click on a bar and navigate to a different report page that shows detailed sales for that category. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Drillthrough. Drillthrough is the correct feature for navigating from a summary visual to a detail page for a specific data point. Cross-filtering only filters other visuals on the same page. Bookmarks are for saved views. Report page tooltips are for hover details. Custom visuals are not needed.

Answer

Bookmarks

Answer

Report page tooltips

Answer

Cross-filtering

Question 4

You are preparing data for a Power BI report. The source data contains a 'CustomerName' column with values like 'John, Doe'. You need to split this column into two columns: 'FirstName' and 'LastName'. The comma is used as a delimiter, but some names have a space after the comma. Which split method should you use?

Accepted Answer

Split by delimiter using comma, then use 'Trim' to remove extra spaces. Splitting by comma and then trimming extra spaces handles the inconsistent spacing after the comma (e.g., 'John, Doe' vs 'John, Doe'). Power Query's 'Split Column by Delimiter' using comma will separate the values, and the subsequent 'Trim' step removes leading/trailing spaces from the resulting columns, ensuring clean 'FirstName' and 'LastName' values without manual cleanup.

Answer

Split by number of characters using a fixed width

Answer

Split by delimiter using semicolon

Answer

Split by delimiter using comma, using 'Left-most delimiter'

Question 5

Which are valid ways to create a calculated table in Power BI? (Select all that apply)

Accepted Answer

VALUES(Customer[Country]). To create a calculated table, you need a DAX expression that returns a table object. Options A, C, D, and E all return tables: VALUES returns a single-column table of distinct values; FILTER returns a filtered subset of rows; CALENDARAUTO returns a date range table; SUMMARIZE returns a grouped table with aggregations. Option B, CALCULATE, returns a scalar value, not a table, so it is invalid.

Answer

CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), ALL(Sales))

Question 6

You are creating a Power BI report that uses a table named Orders with columns: OrderID, OrderDate, ShipDate, and Status. You need to create a calculated table that contains one row per month with the total number of orders shipped in that month. Which TWO steps should you take?

Accepted Answer

Use SUMMARIZECOLUMNS with 'Date'[Month] and COUNTROWS of Orders. To create a calculated table that shows total orders shipped per month, you can directly group by the month of ShipDate using SUMMARIZECOLUMNS. Since the Orders table already contains a ShipDate column, a separate date table is not required for this aggregation. Option C (creating a date table) is unnecessary here; you can simply extract the month from ShipDate within the grouping. Option D correctly uses SUMMARIZECOLUMNS with 'Date'[Month] and COUNTROWS of Orders. Note: If the 'Date' table is not already present, you would need to create it, but the question asks for steps to create a calculated table that contains one row per month with totals. The most direct step is to use SUMMARIZECOLUMNS with the month column from the Orders table (or a date table if available). However, among the given options, only D is a required step.

Answer

Use CALENDARAUTO in a measure

Answer

Use the GROUPBY function

Answer

Create a date table using CALENDAR or CALENDARAUTO

Answer

Use the VALUES function to get unique months

Question 7

You have a Power BI model where the Sales table is filtered by a Customer dimension. Users report that when they filter a measure from the Customer table (e.g., Customer Count), it does not affect the Sales visual. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The relationship is inactive. When a relationship is inactive, filters do not propagate between tables by default. In this scenario, filtering a measure from the Customer table does not affect the Sales visual because the relationship is inactive. Active relationships are required for cross-filtering to work. Options B and C would still allow filtering in specific directions, and D is not a standard setting.

Answer

The relationship cardinality is many-to-many

Answer

The cross-filtering direction is set to one direction (Customer -> Sales), but the filter is applied on Customer

Answer

The security filtering behavior is set to oneDirection

Question 8

You are building a star schema in Power BI. The fact table contains sales transactions. Which of the following should be stored in a dimension table?

Accepted Answer

Product category. Product category is a descriptive attribute that belongs in a product dimension table. Option B is wrong because sales amount is a numeric measure that should be stored in the fact table. Option C is wrong because customer ID is a foreign key that links to a customer dimension but is stored in the fact table as a key, not as a descriptive attribute. Option D is wrong because transaction date can be part of a date dimension, but the question asks for what should be stored in a dimension table, and product category is the clearest dimension attribute among the options.

Answer

Sales amount

Answer

Customer ID

Answer

Transaction date

Question 9

Refer to the exhibit. You have a DAX measure that calculates customer lifetime value (CLV) as total revenue divided by distinct customer count. When you use this measure in a visual with Product category, you notice that the CLV values are higher than expected. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The measure counts customers per category, but customers who buy multiple categories are counted in each category, reducing the denominator. The CLV measure is defined as total revenue divided by distinct customer count. When this measure is used in a visual with Product category, the context filters both the revenue and the customer count to that category. The DISTINCTCOUNT(CustomerID) returns the number of customers who purchased at least one product in that category. If a customer buys multiple categories, they are counted in each category's distinct count. This makes the denominator per category smaller than the total distinct customer base, leading to a higher CLV value than expected. Option A is incorrect because returns would reduce revenue, not cause higher CLV. Option C is incorrect because using COUNTROWS would count transaction rows, not distinct customers, making the denominator larger and CLV smaller. Option D is incorrect because DIVIDE handles division by zero, and the scenario does not involve zero customers.

Answer

The measure does not filter out returns

Answer

The measure should use COUNTROWS instead of DISTINCTCOUNT

Answer

The measure is dividing by zero for categories with no customers

Question 10

Which TWO of the following are valid methods to share a Power BI report with external users who do not have an internal Microsoft Entra ID account? (Select two.)

Accepted Answer

Deploy the report to Power BI Report Server and configure anonymous access. Deploy the report to Power BI Report Server and configure anonymous access allows external users without Microsoft Entra ID accounts to view the report via a web portal or URL. Option C is correct: Inviting them as guest users in Microsoft Entra ID (B2B) enables external users to access the report through the Power BI service using their existing email address. Option A is wrong: Publishing to public web makes the report publicly accessible to anyone on the internet, not just specific external users. Option D is wrong: Email subscriptions send a static snapshot of the report, not an interactive experience. Option E is wrong: Embedding in SharePoint Online requires the user to have a valid Power BI license and access to the report via the Power BI service, which typically requires internal authentication.

Answer

Publish to public web (Publish to web)

Answer

Send them an email subscription with the report attached

Answer

Embed the report in a SharePoint Online page and share the link

Question 11

Which TWO are valid ways to distribute a Power BI report to users who do not have Power BI Pro licenses?

Accepted Answer

Embed the report in a Power BI app with Premium capacity.. Options B and C are correct. Power BI Premium capacity allows reports to be shared with users who do not have Power BI Pro licenses. Embedding a report in a Power BI app (Option B) within a Premium capacity workspace grants access to free users. Publishing a report to a workspace backed by Premium capacity (Option C) enables sharing with free users. Option A is incorrect because Power BI service sharing requires the recipient to have a Pro or Premium per user license. Option D is incorrect because exporting to PDF does not bypass license requirements; the user must still have appropriate access. Option E is incorrect because publishing to web makes the report public, which is not a controlled distribution method for non-Pro users.

Answer

Share the report via Power BI service sharing.

Answer

Export the report as PDF and email it.

Answer

Publish to web (public).

Question 12

You are a Power BI administrator. A user reports that their scheduled data refresh fails with error 'The data source credentials are no longer valid.' The dataset uses a SQL Server database with Windows authentication. What should you do first to resolve the issue?

Accepted Answer

Ask the user to update the data source credentials in the Power BI service dataset settings.. The error 'The data source credentials are no longer valid' typically occurs when the password has changed or expired. The user can update the credentials in the dataset settings in the Power BI service. Option A is incorrect because the on-premises data gateway is not the issue; a reinstall is unnecessary. Option B is incorrect because reassigning the dataset to a different Premium capacity does not address credential validity. Option C is incorrect because using 'Impersonate the authenticated user' still requires valid credentials and does not fix the problem.

Answer

Reinstall the on-premises data gateway on the server.

Answer

Reassign the dataset to a different Premium capacity.

Answer

Modify the dataset to use 'Impersonate the authenticated user' for data sources.

Question 13

You need to ensure that a Power BI report published to the service can be embedded in a secure internal SharePoint Online page. Only authenticated users from your Microsoft Entra ID tenant should be able to view the report. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'Embed in SharePoint Online' option in Power BI service.. To embed a Power BI report securely in a SharePoint Online page, use the 'Embed in SharePoint Online' option in the Power BI service. This generates a secure embed link that respects Microsoft Entra ID authentication and permissions, ensuring only authorized users can view the report. After generating the link, add the Power BI web part to a SharePoint page and paste the link. Option B is incorrect because sharing a direct link does not embed the report; it only provides a hyperlink. Option C is incorrect because 'Publish to web' makes the report publicly accessible without authentication. Option D is also a method that generates a secure embed code, but the 'Embed in SharePoint Online' option is the most straightforward and recommended approach for SharePoint embedding, making Option A the correct choice.

Answer

Share the report directly with all users and provide a direct link.

Answer

Use the 'Publish to web (public)' option and embed the iframe in SharePoint.

Answer

Use the 'Embed' option in Power BI service to generate a secure embed code, then add the Power BI web part in SharePoint.

Question 14

Which THREE components must be in place to enable Power BI data sensitivity labels from Microsoft Purview? (Select exactly three.)

Accepted Answer

Power BI admin setting to enable sensitivity labels enabled. Options A, B, and D are correct. To enable Power BI data sensitivity labels from Microsoft Purview, three components are needed: the Power BI admin setting to enable sensitivity labels must be turned on (A), sensitivity labels must be published to users or groups in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal (B), and a Microsoft Purview Information Protection subscription (including Azure Information Protection P1/P2) is required (D). Option C is incorrect because Power BI Premium capacity is not a prerequisite; sensitivity labels work with both Power BI Pro and Premium capacities. Option E is incorrect because a Power BI Pro license is not required for all users; the feature can be used with any license type if the admin enables it and the necessary subscriptions are in place.

Answer

Power BI Premium capacity assigned to the workspace

Answer

Power BI Pro license for all users

Question 15

You have a Power BI dataset that uses a DirectQuery connection to Azure Synapse Analytics. Users report that the report is slow. You need to improve query performance without changing the data source. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Reduce the number of visuals on each report page.. Reducing the number of visuals on each report page reduces the number of queries sent to the data source, improving performance for DirectQuery datasets. Option A is incorrect because reducing cardinality of measures may reduce data size but does not directly reduce the number of queries. Option B is incorrect because disabling RLS could change data access but does not significantly improve query performance. Option C is incorrect because increasing scheduled refresh frequency applies to import mode, not DirectQuery.

Answer

Reduce the cardinality of calculated measures.

Answer

Disable row-level security (RLS) on the dataset.

Answer

Increase the scheduled refresh frequency.

Question 16

A company is deploying Power BI for the entire organization. They need to prevent users from sharing reports with external email addresses. Which configuration should the Power BI admin use?

Accepted Answer

Disable 'Share content with external users' in the Power BI admin portal.. The Power BI admin portal provides a tenant-level setting 'Share content with external users' that can be disabled to prevent sharing with external email addresses. Option B is incorrect because Conditional Access policies in Microsoft Entra ID control access based on conditions but do not specifically block external sharing within Power BI. Option C is incorrect because Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels classify and protect data but do not block sharing. Option D is incorrect because workspace sharing settings only control sharing within the workspace and do not prevent external sharing at the tenant level.

Answer

Configure a Conditional Access policy in Microsoft Entra ID.

Answer

Apply a Microsoft Purview sensitivity label.

Answer

Set the workspace sharing settings to 'Only existing users'.

Question 17

Your organization uses Microsoft Purview Information Protection to label sensitive data in Power BI datasets. You need to ensure that when a report is exported to Excel, the sensitivity label is automatically applied. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Ensure the dataset has a sensitivity label and that the export inherits the label.. When a Power BI dataset has a sensitivity label applied via Microsoft Purview Information Protection, any downstream exports (such as reports exported to Excel) automatically inherit that label. This inheritance ensures consistent protection across all outputs. Option D is incorrect because the Power BI admin portal setting 'Apply sensitivity labels to exported data' is used to apply labels when the data source does not have a label, but it does not override automatic inheritance from a labeled dataset. Option B is incorrect because DLP policies in Microsoft Purview monitor and protect data, but they do not automatically apply sensitivity labels to exports. Option C is incorrect because setting a default sensitivity label on a report is not a feature; sensitivity labels are inherited from the dataset, not configured per report.

Answer

Use data loss prevention (DLP) policies in Microsoft Purview.

Answer

Set a default sensitivity label on the report.

Answer

Enable 'Apply sensitivity labels to exported data' in the Power BI admin portal.

Question 18

A Power BI report uses a DirectQuery data source. The model includes a calculated column that uses the RELATED function to bring a value from another table. The report is performing slowly. What design change would most improve performance without compromising functionality?

Accepted Answer

Replace the calculated column with a calculated table that includes the related column.. Replacing the calculated column with a calculated table that includes the related column moves the join logic to query time, reducing the per-row overhead of the RELATED function in DirectQuery mode. In DirectQuery, calculated columns are evaluated row-by-row for each query, which can cause significant performance degradation; a calculated table is materialized once during refresh (or in DirectQuery, it is resolved as a single query to the source), avoiding repeated row-level lookups. This change preserves the functionality of having the related value available in the table while improving query performance.

Answer

Remove the RELATED function and merge tables in the source query.

Answer

Convert the model to Import mode.

Answer

Use a measure instead of a calculated column.

Question 19

Your organization uses Power BI Premium and wants to enforce that users can only see data relevant to their department (Sales, Marketing, Finance) using row-level security (RLS). The dataset contains a 'Department' column. You have created three RLS roles, each with a filter like [Department] = "Sales". You publish the dataset and add users to the roles. However, users in the Sales role can see all data. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The users are also assigned to workspace roles (e.g., Member) that grant them access to the dataset without RLS restrictions.. In Power BI, users assigned to workspace roles (Admin, Member, Contributor) have dataset-level permissions that bypass Row-Level Security (RLS). Since these users can access the dataset directly, RLS filters are not applied. Option A is incorrect because RLS roles are typically created in Power BI Desktop before publishing. Option B is incorrect; multiple roles combine filters using OR logic, so users in multiple roles see union of all allowed data, not all data. Option C is incorrect because RLS filters are case-insensitive by default. Option D correctly identifies that workspace roles override RLS.

Answer

The RLS roles were created in the Power BI service, not in Power BI Desktop.

Answer

The users are members of multiple RLS roles, so they see all data.

Answer

The RLS filter uses a string comparison that is case-sensitive and the data contains mixed case.

Question 20

Which TWO of the following are valid methods to share a Power BI report with external users (outside your organization)? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Invite the external user as a guest in your Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and share the report directly with them.. The correct answers are C and E. Option C: By inviting external users as guests in your Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) using Azure AD B2B, you can share Power BI reports directly with them without requiring them to have a Power BI license. Option E: 'Publish to web' creates a public embed code that anyone on the internet can view, making it suitable for sharing with external users. Option A is incorrect because exporting to PDF creates a static file, not an interactive report, and is not a sharing method. Option B is incorrect because external users need to be set up as guests or use publish to web; a direct link alone will not work without proper authentication. Option D is incorrect because embedding in SharePoint Online requires the external user to have access to the SharePoint site, which typically involves additional setup such as guest access.

Answer

Export the report to PDF and email it to the external user.

Answer

Send the external user a direct link to the report via email; they can view it without any additional setup.

Answer

Embed the report in a SharePoint Online page using the Power BI web part.