PL-300 Practice Test 2 — 25 Questions

Question 1

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 2

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 3

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 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

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 8

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 9

You are connecting to a SharePoint folder that contains Excel workbooks. Each workbook has multiple sheets. You need to combine data from a specific sheet named 'Sales' across all workbooks. Which Power Query approach should you use?

Accepted Answer

Use the SharePoint folder connector, filter by .xlsx, then expand the Content column and filter by sheet name 'Sales'.. The SharePoint folder connector retrieves all files in the folder, including Excel workbooks. By filtering for .xlsx files and then expanding the Content column, you access the binary data of each workbook. You can then filter by the 'Sales' sheet name to combine data from that specific sheet across all workbooks, which is the only approach that directly handles multiple workbooks with multiple sheets.

Answer

Use the SharePoint Online List connector and select the document library.

Answer

Use the Excel connector and specify the folder path.

Answer

Use the Web connector and provide the SharePoint site URL.

Question 10

You have a Power BI model with a 'Date' table marked as a date table. You need to create a measure that calculates the running total of sales over the last 12 months. Which DAX function should you use?

Accepted Answer

DATESINPERIOD. DATESINPERIOD, is correct because it allows you to define a dynamic window of dates—specifically, the last 12 months ending with the latest date in the current filter context. When used with a measure like CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), DATESINPERIOD('Date'[Date], MAX('Date'[Date]), -12, MONTH)), it shifts the date range backward by 12 months from the last visible date, making it ideal for a rolling 12-month total. The 'Date' table being marked as a date table ensures that time intelligence functions respect the continuous date range.

Answer

PREVIOUSYEAR

Answer

DATESYTD

Answer

DATEADD

Question 11

You have a Power BI dataset that uses Import mode and refreshes daily. The source data includes a column 'LastModifiedDate'. You want to reduce the amount of data loaded during each refresh by only loading rows that have changed since the last refresh. Which feature should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Configure incremental refresh on the table using the 'LastModifiedDate' column.. Incremental refresh in Power BI allows you to filter data by a date/time column (such as 'LastModifiedDate') so that only rows that have changed since the last refresh are loaded. This reduces refresh time and data volume while still using Import mode. The feature requires a date/time column and a properly configured policy in the Power Query Editor.

Answer

Enable query folding in Power Query.

Answer

Use the 'Reduce data' option in Power Query Editor.

Answer

Change the storage mode to DirectQuery.

Question 12

Refer to the exhibit. You are reviewing a Power BI data source credential configuration. The Azure Blob Storage data source uses 'Anonymous' credentials. However, the refresh fails with an error indicating that the blob container is private and requires authentication. Which change should you make?

Accepted Answer

Change credential type to 'Account Key' and provide the storage account key.. Azure Blob Storage containers that are private require authentication. The 'Account Key' credential type in Power BI uses the storage account key to authenticate via the Azure Storage REST API, which is the correct method for accessing private blob containers. Anonymous access only works when the container is configured for public access.

Answer

Change credential type to 'Service Principal' and provide the app ID and secret.

Answer

Change credential type to 'Basic' and provide the storage account name and key.

Answer

Change credential type to 'Windows' for the Azure Blob datasource.

Question 13

You are importing data from a folder containing multiple CSV files with identical structure. You want to automatically combine all files into one table in Power Query. Which connector should you use?

Accepted Answer

Folder connector. The Folder connector is the correct choice because it is specifically designed to connect to a folder containing multiple files, and when combined with the 'Combine Files' transformation in Power Query, it automatically merges all CSV files with identical structures into a single table. This connector handles the iterative process of reading each file and appending rows without manual scripting.

Answer

Excel Workbook connector

Answer

CSV connector

Answer

Web connector

Question 14

A user reports that a Power BI report is not refreshing data from a SQL Server database. The dataset uses Import mode. The gateway cluster shows all gateways are online. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The data source credentials are incorrect or expired.. In Import mode, Power BI caches data and refreshes it on a schedule using stored credentials. If those credentials expire or become invalid, the refresh fails even though the gateway cluster shows as online. The gateway being online only indicates network connectivity, not that the stored credentials are still valid for the SQL Server database.

Answer

The report is using a scheduled refresh with a conflicting time.

Answer

The gateway version is incompatible with the SQL Server version.

Answer

The dataset uses DirectQuery mode which requires a live connection.

Question 15

Drag and drop the steps to create a relationship between two tables in Power BI Desktop into the correct order.

Accepted Answer

Open Model view, drag a column from one table to a column in another table, configure cardinality and cross-filter direction in the Edit Relationship dialog, then click OK.. Relationships are created by dragging columns between tables in the Model view, then confirming settings like cardinality.

Answer

Open Model view, click on the table to select it, then click on the 'Create Relationship' button in the ribbon, then select the columns from a dropdown menu, then click OK.

Answer

Open Model view, drag a column from one table to the other table header, then in the dialog that appears, choose the cardinality, then click OK.

Answer

Open Model view, configure cardinality and cross-filter direction in the Edit Relationship dialog, then drag a column from one table to a column in another table, then click OK.

Question 16

You are preparing a data model that uses a date table. You need to ensure that the date table includes all dates from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2025. What is the most efficient way to create this date table in Power Query?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'List.Dates' function to generate the date range.. The 'List.Dates' function in Power Query M is the most efficient way to generate a contiguous range of dates directly within the query editor, without external dependencies. It creates a list of dates from a start date to an end date using a specified step (e.g., #duration(1,0,0,0) for one day), which can then be converted into a table. This approach is lightweight, fully self-contained, and avoids the overhead of importing external files or using DAX functions that are not native to Power Query.

Answer

Import a date table from an Excel file.

Answer

Use the 'Calendar' function in Power Query M.

Answer

Use the 'CALENDAR' DAX function in Power Query.

Question 17

What is the most likely cause of the error in the DAX query shown in the exhibit?

Accepted Answer

The [Sales Amount] measure is returning multiple values or is not a valid scalar measure.. The error 'A single value for column 'Sales Amount' in table 'Sales' cannot be determined' occurs because the [Sales Amount] measure is being used in a context that expects a scalar value, but the measure is defined to return multiple values (e.g., using SUMX over a table that returns multiple rows without proper aggregation). In DAX, measures used in EVALUATE statements must return a single scalar value; if the measure is not properly aggregated or contains a many-to-many relationship, it can produce multiple values, causing this error.

Answer

There is no relationship between Date and Product tables.

Answer

The SUMMARIZECOLUMNS function does not support multiple group-by columns.

Answer

The ORDER BY clause is not allowed in EVALUATE statements.

Question 18

You are modeling data from multiple sources: a SQL Server database for sales, an Excel file for budget, and a SharePoint list for product targets. You need to combine these into a single Power BI report. What is the recommended approach for handling data refresh?

Accepted Answer

Use Power Query to combine data from all sources into a single dataset, then schedule a daily refresh in the Power BI service.. Power Query (Get Data) in Power BI Desktop is designed to connect to and combine data from multiple heterogeneous sources—SQL Server, Excel, and SharePoint—into a single dataset. After publishing to the Power BI service, you can configure a scheduled refresh (via an on-premises data gateway for on-premises sources) to keep the dataset up to date automatically, which is the recommended approach for recurring refreshes.

Answer

Import each source into separate Power BI Desktop files and manually update.

Answer

Use Excel Online as the single source and import all data into it first.

Answer

Create separate datasets for each source and use composite models with DirectQuery.

Question 19

Which TWO are valid methods to handle null values in Power Query? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Use the 'Fill Down' or 'Fill Up' option to propagate non-null values into null cells.. 'Fill Down' and 'Fill Up' propagate the last non-null value into adjacent null cells. Option C is correct because 'Replace Values' can replace nulls with a default value. Option B is incorrect: 'Remove Blank Rows' removes rows where all cells are blank, not rows with nulls in specific columns. Option D is not a direct method for handling nulls; merging may introduce new data but does not handle existing nulls. Option E is invalid because changing to a non-nullable type causes errors.

Answer

Remove rows that contain null values using the 'Remove Rows' > 'Remove Blank Rows' option.

Answer

Merge the table with another table that has no nulls.

Answer

Change the data type of the column to a non-nullable type.

Question 20

You are preparing data for a Power BI report. The source data contains a column 'FullName' with values like 'John Doe'. You need to split this column into 'FirstName' and 'LastName' using Power Query. The transformation should be repeatable and not dependent on the number of spaces. What is the best approach?

Accepted Answer

Use 'Split Column by Delimiter' and choose 'Right-most delimiter'.. Using 'Split Column by Delimiter' with 'Right-most delimiter' ensures that the split occurs at the last space in the FullName column, which reliably separates the first name from the last name even if there are multiple spaces (e.g., 'John Michael Doe' would yield 'John Michael' as FirstName and 'Doe' as LastName). This approach is repeatable and does not depend on a fixed number of spaces, making it robust for varying name formats.

Answer

Use 'Split Column by Number of Characters' with a fixed position.

Answer

Use 'Replace Values' to replace space with a comma.

Answer

Use 'Extract Text After Delimiter' with a space.