PL-300 Multiple Select — 30 Questions

Question 1

You are developing a Power BI report to analyze sales performance. The data model includes a 'Sales' fact table with a 'Date' column and a 'Region' dimension table. You need to create a measure that calculates the total sales amount for the current year compared to the previous year. Which TWO of the following steps are required to implement this calculation correctly?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate date table and mark it as a date table in Power BI.. Option B is correct because a dedicated date table marked as a date table in Power BI is required for time intelligence functions like SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR to work correctly. Time intelligence functions rely on a continuous, contiguous date range with a 'Date' column marked as the date table, ensuring accurate year-over-year comparisons. Without this, the functions may return incorrect or blank results due to gaps or non-standard date hierarchies.

Answer

Use the Quick Measure feature to create a 'Year-over-year change' measure.

Answer

Apply the CALCULATE function to switch between years.

Answer

Ensure the 'Sales' table has a relationship to the 'Date' table with a many-to-many cardinality.

Question 2

A company has a Power BI dataset that includes a table 'Orders' with columns: OrderID, CustomerID, OrderDate, ShipDate, and Amount. They want to create a measure that calculates the number of orders shipped within 3 days of the order date. Which THREE of the following steps are necessary to create this measure?

Accepted Answer

Use FILTER to filter the Orders table based on the condition.. Option A is correct because FILTER is necessary to iterate over the Orders table and apply a row-by-row condition to identify orders shipped within 3 days. In DAX, FILTER returns a table that can be used as a filter argument inside CALCULATE, enabling context transition and dynamic filtering. Without FILTER, you cannot evaluate the date difference condition for each row individually.

Answer

Use COUNTROWS without any filter.

Answer

Use SUM to add up the Amount column.

Question 3

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to create a measure in Power BI?

Accepted Answer

From the Modeling tab, click New Measure.. Option A is correct because the Modeling tab in Power BI Desktop provides a dedicated 'New Measure' button that allows users to create calculated measures using DAX (Data Analysis Expressions). This is the primary and most direct method for adding measures to your data model, enabling dynamic aggregations and calculations that are not stored in the table but computed at query time.

Answer

From the Format pane, add a measure.

Answer

From Power Query Editor, add a custom column.

Answer

From the Visualizations pane, click New Measure.

Question 4

Which TWO actions should you take to ensure that a Power BI report deployed to production is available to users even if the gateway is offline for maintenance?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate dataset in the cloud that caches the data.. Option D is correct because creating a separate dataset in the cloud that caches the data (e.g., using a scheduled dataflow or a cloud-based dataset with Import mode) ensures that the report can still serve cached data from the Power BI service even when the on-premises gateway is offline for maintenance. This decouples report availability from gateway connectivity, as long as the cached data is refreshed before the maintenance window.

Answer

Create a Power BI Premium capacity to ensure high availability.

Answer

Schedule the dataset refresh to run during the maintenance window.

Answer

Use DirectQuery instead of Import mode to avoid gateway dependency.

Question 5

Which THREE steps should you perform to deploy a Power BI solution from development to production using deployment pipelines?

Accepted Answer

Set up deployment pipeline rules to modify parameters (e.g., database name).. Option B is correct because deployment pipeline rules allow you to modify dataset parameters (e.g., database server or database name) when content moves between pipeline stages, ensuring each stage connects to the appropriate data source without manual reconfiguration. This is a core feature of Power BI deployment pipelines to maintain environment-specific settings.

Answer

Create a new workspace manually in production.

Answer

Assign Power BI Pro licenses to all developers.

Question 6

Which THREE factors should you consider when planning the deployment of Power BI content to a large enterprise with multiple regions?

Accepted Answer

Data residency requirements for each region.. Data residency requirements are critical because Power BI stores data in specific Azure regions. For a multi-region enterprise, you must ensure that data does not leave the required geographic boundary due to compliance or legal mandates. This affects where you provision Power BI tenants, capacity, and data sources.

Answer

The number of visuals per report page.

Answer

The currency format used in reports for each region.

Question 7

Which TWO actions are required to set up a Power BI deployment pipeline with separate data sources for Development and Production?

Accepted Answer

Define dataset parameters in Power BI Desktop for data source values.. Option A is correct because defining dataset parameters in Power BI Desktop for data source values allows you to make the data source connection dynamic. These parameters can then be overridden at each stage of the deployment pipeline, enabling separate data sources for Development and Production without modifying the report file.

Answer

Assign the dataset owner to each stage workspace.

Answer

Re-enter data source credentials for each stage after deployment.

Answer

Create separate gateways for each stage.

Question 8

You have a Power BI dataset that uses DirectQuery to an Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pool. You need to improve query performance. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Create indexes on columns used in filters. Creating indexes on columns used in filters is correct because DirectQuery translates Power BI filter operations into SQL queries against the Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pool. Indexes on those columns accelerate row-level filtering by reducing the number of pages scanned, directly improving query response times.

Answer

Normalize the data warehouse tables

Answer

Switch the dataset to Import mode

Question 9

You are designing a data model for a sales analysis report. The source data includes a table with Sales, Product, Customer, and Date information in a single flat table. You need to transform this into a star schema with separate dimension tables. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Create a Product dimension table by selecting distinct product attributes and assigning a surrogate key.. Option A is correct because creating a Product dimension table by selecting distinct product attributes and assigning a surrogate key is a fundamental step in building a star schema. This process normalizes the flat table by separating product-related attributes into a dedicated dimension, which reduces redundancy and improves query performance in Power BI. The surrogate key (e.g., an integer identity column) ensures a stable, unique identifier for each product, independent of any changes in the source system's natural keys.

Answer

Merge the Customer and Product dimensions into one table to reduce the number of tables.

Answer

Keep all columns in a single table to avoid relationships.

Question 10

Which TWO of the following are valid methods to transform data in Power Query?

Accepted Answer

Use 'Unpivot Columns' to turn selected columns into attribute-value pairs.. Options B and D are correct. Option A is wrong because 'Group By' is a transformation, not a merge. Option C is wrong because 'Append' is a transformation. Option E is wrong because 'Split Column' is a transformation.

Answer

Use 'Split Column' to divide a column into multiple columns based on a delimiter.

Answer

Use 'Merge Queries' to combine rows from multiple tables based on a key.

Answer

Use 'Append Queries' to combine columns from two tables.

Question 11

You are importing data from a web page that contains an HTML table. Power Query detects the table, but you notice that some columns contain HTML tags. Which TWO methods can you use to remove the HTML tags from the column values?

Accepted Answer

Use 'Replace Values' to remove specific tags like
and

.. Option B is correct because 'Replace Values' allows you to manually remove specific HTML tags (e.g.,
,

) by replacing them with an empty string, which is a straightforward method for cleaning known tags. Option E is correct because the 'Html.Table' function in Power Query can parse HTML content and extract the text from a table, effectively stripping tags and returning clean text values.

Answer

Split the column by delimiter '<' and then extract the first part.

Answer

Remove the columns containing HTML tags.

Answer

Use the 'Clean' function to remove all HTML tags.

Question 12

You are connecting to a data source that contains Personally Identifiable Information (PII). You need to ensure that only authorized users can view the data in Power BI reports. Which TWO actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Define row-level security (RLS) roles in Power BI Desktop.. Options A and D are correct. Row-level security (RLS) restricts data access at the row level based on user roles. Object-level security (OLS) can hide entire tables or columns. Option B is wrong because data masking in Power Query is not a native feature; it must be done manually. Option C is wrong because sensitivity labels protect the report content but do not restrict data access. Option E is wrong because encryption at rest is a general security measure but does not control user access.

Answer

Enable encryption at rest for the dataset.

Answer

Use Power Query to mask PII columns by replacing values with '***'.

Answer

Apply sensitivity labels to the dataset.

Question 13

Which THREE actions in Power Query Editor can improve the performance of data refresh? (Select three.)

Accepted Answer

Remove columns that are not used in the report.. Option C is correct because removing unused columns reduces the amount of data loaded into the Power Query engine and the data model, directly decreasing memory usage and refresh time. Power Query processes all columns in a query step, so eliminating unnecessary columns early minimizes the data footprint for subsequent transformations and the final load.

Answer

Sort data in ascending order to improve compression.

Answer

Merge queries before filtering.

Question 14

Which TWO transformations in Power Query are most likely to cause Query Folding to stop? (Select two.)

Accepted Answer

Pivot columns.. Option A is correct because Pivot columns in Power Query often require a transformation that cannot be translated into a native SQL query, causing Query Folding to break. When you pivot a column, the engine must restructure data from rows to columns, which typically involves operations like grouping and aggregation that many source systems (e.g., SQL Server) cannot fold back to a single SELECT statement. This forces Power Query to pull all data locally before applying the pivot, stopping folding.

Answer

Filter rows based on a date column.

Answer

Remove columns.

Answer

Rename a column.

Question 15

Which TWO data sources can be used with DirectQuery mode in Power BI? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

SQL Server. SQL Server is correct because it is a relational database that supports DirectQuery mode in Power BI, allowing queries to be sent directly to the source without importing data. This enables real-time access to large datasets while leveraging SQL Server's query processing capabilities.

Answer

Excel workbook

Answer

CSV file

Answer

SharePoint list

Question 16

Which THREE are valid methods to handle duplicate rows in Power Query when preparing data?

Accepted Answer

Use 'Remove Duplicates' based on key columns. Options A, B, and D are correct. Remove Duplicates deletes duplicates. Group By with aggregation can combine duplicates. Keep Duplicates retains only duplicates. Option C reverses rows, not handle duplicates. Option E sorts, not handle duplicates.

Answer

Use 'Reverse Rows'

Answer

Use 'Sort Ascending'

Question 17

Which TWO of the following are valid data sources for Power Query in Power BI Desktop? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

SQL Server Analysis Services database. Option B is correct because Power Query in Power BI Desktop can connect directly to SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) databases using the Analysis Services connector, which supports both multidimensional and tabular models. This allows you to import or DirectQuery data from SSAS cubes or tabular models, leveraging MDX or DAX queries respectively.

Answer

SharePoint list

Answer

Power BI dataset

Answer

Microsoft Entra ID

Question 18

You are connecting Power BI to an Azure SQL Database. You need to ensure that the connection uses the most secure authentication method available. Which THREE options should you consider? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Use a service principal with Microsoft Entra ID.. Option C is correct because using a service principal with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) enables token-based authentication for Power BI to Azure SQL Database, which is more secure than shared secrets or passwords. Service principals are non-interactive identities that can be granted fine-grained permissions, eliminating the need to store credentials and reducing the risk of credential exposure.

Answer

Use Windows authentication.

Answer

Use SQL Server authentication with a strong password.

Question 19

Which THREE factors should you consider when choosing between Import and DirectQuery storage modes? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Report interactivity and performance needs.. Option B is correct because Import mode pre-aggregates data into an in-memory columnstore, enabling sub-second DAX query responses, while DirectQuery mode sends queries to the source database in real time, which can introduce latency. The choice between them directly impacts report interactivity and performance, as Import mode is optimized for fast, interactive slicing and dicing, whereas DirectQuery may suffer from slower response times on complex measures or large result sets.

Answer

User license type (Pro vs Premium).

Answer

Report color scheme and branding.

Question 20

Which THREE of the following are best practices for data preparation in Power BI to improve performance and maintainability? (Select THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Filter out unnecessary rows as early as possible in the query. Filtering out unnecessary rows early in Power Query reduces the amount of data loaded into memory and processed in subsequent transformation steps. This practice, known as early filtering, minimizes the data footprint and improves both refresh performance and report responsiveness. By applying filters as the first transformation, you leverage query folding to push the filter logic to the source database, further enhancing efficiency.

Answer

Avoid renaming columns in Power Query; use original names

Answer

Keep all columns from the source to avoid missing data