PL-300 Practice Test 2 — 30 Questions

Question 1

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 2

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 3

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 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

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 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

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 12

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 13

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 14

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 15

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.

Question 16

You are designing a data model in Power BI that includes a fact table called 'Sales' and dimension tables 'Customer', 'Product', and 'Date'. The 'Sales' table contains columns: 'SalesID', 'CustomerID', 'ProductID', 'DateKey', 'Quantity', and 'Amount'. You need to ensure that the model follows star schema best practices and that filters from the 'Customer' table propagate correctly to the 'Sales' table. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Create a one-to-many relationship from Customer (one side) to Sales (many side) based on CustomerID.. In a star schema, the dimension table (Customer) should have a one-to-many relationship to the fact table (Sales) based on the common key (CustomerID). This ensures that filters applied to the Customer table propagate correctly to the Sales table, maintaining referential integrity and enabling efficient query performance.

Answer

Merge the Customer and Sales tables into a single flat table.

Answer

Set the cross-filter direction to Both on the relationship between Customer and Sales.

Answer

Create a many-to-many relationship between Customer and Sales using SalesID.

Question 17

You are importing data from an Excel workbook that contains multiple sheets. You only need data from the 'Sales' sheet. In Power Query Editor, what should you do to load only that sheet?

Accepted Answer

In the Navigator dialog, select the 'Sales' sheet and click 'Transform Data'.. In Power Query Editor, the Navigator dialog allows you to preview and select specific tables or sheets from a data source before loading. By selecting the 'Sales' sheet and clicking 'Transform Data', you load only that sheet into Power Query Editor for transformation, avoiding unnecessary data. This is the correct and efficient method to import a single sheet from a multi-sheet Excel workbook.

Answer

Load all sheets, then delete the queries for sheets you don't need.

Answer

Use a filter transform to exclude rows from other sheets.

Answer

Select the entire workbook and then filter out other sheets in Power Query.

Question 18

You are a data analyst at a retail company. You have a Power BI semantic model that imports sales data from an Azure SQL Database. The database uses a timestamp column to track transaction time. You need to reduce the data refresh time and ensure that only the last 30 days of data are refreshed during each scheduled refresh. You have already created the necessary parameters rangeStart and rangeEnd in Power Query. What should you do next to implement incremental refresh?

Accepted Answer

In Power BI Desktop, on the model view, select the table and set the incremental refresh policy.. Incremental refresh policies are defined in Power BI Desktop on the model view, not in the service or by simply filtering in Power Query. After creating the rangeStart and rangeEnd parameters, you must select the table in the Model view, open the incremental refresh policy dialog, and configure the policy to filter data based on those parameters, ensuring only the last 30 days are refreshed.

Answer

In the Power BI service, go to the dataset settings and configure the scheduled refresh.

Answer

In Power Query Editor, apply the rangeStart and rangeEnd filters to the data and then close and apply.

Answer

In the Power BI service, create a new refresh schedule and set the incremental refresh period.

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

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'