PL-300 Visualize and analyze the data Practice Test 12 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You have a Power BI report that shows sales by region. The map visual displays regions with incorrect boundaries. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

Bing Maps geocoding inaccuracies.. The correct answer is D: Bing Maps geocoding inaccuracies. Power BI's map and filled map visuals rely on Bing Maps to geocode location data (such as region names) into geographic shapes, and ambiguous or non-standard region names can be matched to the wrong boundaries, producing incorrect shapes. This is the most likely cause of misdrawn region boundaries, since the visual itself is functioning but the geocoding lookup resolves to the wrong place. Option A is incorrect because visual choice affects suitability, not boundary accuracy. Option B is incorrect because a stale data source would show outdated values, not wrong geographic boundaries. Option C is incorrect because overlapping labels are a formatting/rendering issue, not a cause of incorrect region shapes.

Answer

The map visual is not the best choice for the data.

Answer

The data source is not refreshed.

Answer

The map labels are overlapping.

Question 2

You need to create a measure that calculates the year-over-year growth of sales. Which DAX function should you use?

Accepted Answer

SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR. SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR (option B) is correct because it returns a table of dates shifted exactly one year back from the dates in the current filter context, which is precisely what you need to compare this year's sales against the same period last year for a year-over-year growth measure. It is a time-intelligence function designed for this purpose and works on a marked date table, letting you write something like CALCULATE([Sales], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Dates[Date])). DATEADD is more flexible (it shifts by any interval, e.g., -1 YEAR) but is not the dedicated same-period comparison function, and it can behave differently at partial periods. PARALLELPERIOD shifts to a full parallel period (e.g., the entire previous year or quarter) rather than the same portion of the period, so it would not align day-for-day. PREVIOUSYEAR returns the whole previous calendar year regardless of the current period's partial span, which also breaks the same-period alignment needed for accurate YoY growth.

Answer

DATEADD

Answer

PARALLELPERIOD

Answer

PREVIOUSYEAR

Question 3

You are designing a report for executives. They need to see both high-level KPIs and the ability to drill down into details. Which approach should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Use drillthrough pages to navigate from summary visuals to detail pages.. Option B is correct because drillthrough pages are purpose-built for this scenario: a user right-clicks a data point on a summary visual (such as a KPI card or chart) and navigates to a separate detail page filtered to that context, preserving the summary-to-detail flow executives need. This keeps the executive page clean with high-level KPIs while providing a dedicated, context-filtered detail page on demand. Option A is wrong because cramming all data into one table with drill-down does not deliver a true high-level KPI view and becomes unwieldy. Option C is wrong because bookmarks merely toggle saved view states and do not pass the selected data context to a detail view. Option D is wrong because report page tooltips only show supplementary information on hover and are not a navigation mechanism for drilling into detail.

Answer

Place all data in a single table visual with drill-down capability.

Answer

Use bookmarks to switch between summary and detail views.

Answer

Use report page tooltips to show details on hover.

Question 4

You need to ensure that a Power BI report is accessible to users with visual impairments. Which feature should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Add alt text to each visual.. The correct option is C: Add alt text to each visual. Alt text provides a textual description of each visual that screen readers can announce, which is the primary accessibility feature in Power BI for users with visual impairments. High-contrast themes (A) improve visual perception for low-vision users but do not convey the meaning of visuals to screen readers, and data labels (B) only expose values visually. Custom tab order (D) helps keyboard navigation but does not describe visual content to assistive technology.

Answer

Apply a high-contrast theme.

Answer

Enable data labels on all visuals.

Answer

Set custom tab order for visuals.

Question 5

You have the DAX measure shown. The measure returns blank for some periods even though there are sales in the current period. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The Date table does not contain all dates from the previous year.. The correct option is A: the Date table does not contain all dates from the previous year. A typical year-over-year DAX measure uses SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR or DATEADD over the marked Date table, and if the Date table is missing dates from the prior year, the time-intelligence function returns an empty set, so the measure evaluates to blank even though current-period sales exist. Time intelligence in DAX requires a contiguous, complete Date table marked as a date table; gaps in prior-year dates break the shifted filter context. Option B is too generic and does not explain blanks tied specifically to prior-year periods. Option C is unlikely because a variable referencing current sales would still evaluate in the current context. Option D is incorrect because DIVIDE returns blank only when the denominator is zero or blank, which would not selectively blank prior-year comparisons when current sales exist.

Answer

The measure is not properly filtered by the current context.

Answer

The variable CurrentSales is not evaluated correctly.

Answer

The DIVIDE function returns blank when denominator is zero.

Question 6

You have a Power BI report that uses a measure with a filter context. You want to override the filter context for a specific calculation. Which function should you use?

Accepted Answer

CALCULATE. CALCULATE (option C) is correct because it is the only DAX function that modifies the filter context of a measure, allowing you to override or replace existing filters for a specific calculation by supplying new filter arguments. ALL (option A) is a table function that removes filters from a column or table but does not itself change the evaluation context of a calculation. FILTER (option B) returns a filtered table and is typically used as an argument inside CALCULATE, not as the context-modifying function itself. VALUES (option D) returns a one-column table of distinct values and does not alter filter context.

Answer

ALL

Answer

FILTER

Answer

VALUES

Question 7

Which TWO actions can improve the performance of a Power BI report that uses DirectQuery?

Accepted Answer

Push transformations to the data source.. Option B is correct because with DirectQuery, every visual interaction is translated into a query against the source, so pushing transformations (filters, joins, aggregations) to the data source lets the source engine do the heavy lifting and reduces the amount of data Power BI must process. Option C is correct because reducing the number of columns in the query shrinks the result set returned to Power BI, lowering network transfer and memory/processing overhead, which directly improves DirectQuery report performance. Option A is not correct because calculated columns are computed and stored in the model, and in DirectQuery they can force row-by-row processing or unsupported query patterns rather than improving source-side performance. Options D and E are not correct because bidirectional cross-filtering (cross-filter direction set to both) adds extra query complexity and can degrade performance rather than improve it.

Answer

Create calculated columns instead of measures.

Answer

Use bidirectional cross-filtering.

Answer

Increase cross-filter direction to both.

Question 8

Which THREE features are available in Power BI to support natural language queries?

Accepted Answer

Suggested Questions. Suggested Questions (B) is correct because Power BI automatically generates natural-language question prompts for a dataset, letting report authors add them so users can click a question and get a Q&A visual result without typing. The Q&A visual (C) is correct because it is the core natural-language feature: users type questions in plain English (or another supported language) into the Q&A box and Power BI interprets them against the semantic model to produce charts and tables. Synonyms for tables and columns (D) is correct because defining synonyms in the model (via Model view or Q&A linguistic schema) improves Q&A's understanding of user terms, mapping words like 'revenue' to a column such as 'SalesAmount'. Key Influencers (A) is not a natural-language query feature; it is an AI visual that analyzes which factors influence a metric. Quick Measures (E) is not natural-language either; it is a dialog-driven way to generate DAX calculations from templates.

Answer

Key Influencers visual

Answer

Quick Measures

Question 9

You are reviewing a Power BI dataset schema. The Date column is used in time intelligence measures. What is missing from this schema?

Accepted Answer

There is no separate date table marked as a date table.. The correct answer is A: there is no separate date table marked as a date table. Time intelligence functions in DAX (such as TOTALYTD, SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR, and DATEADD) require a dedicated date table that is marked as a date table and has a continuous, unbroken range of dates at the day level, which a transactional fact table's Date column cannot reliably provide. Without this marked date table, the time intelligence measures will either fail or return incorrect results. Option B is irrelevant because the schema version number has no bearing on time intelligence functionality. Option C is incorrect because the Amount column's data type does not affect time intelligence calculations. Option D is incorrect because changing the Date column's data type from dateTime to date does not satisfy the requirement for a separate, marked date table.

Answer

The version should be 2.0.

Answer

The Amount column should be a decimal.

Answer

The data type for Date should be date instead of dateTime.

Question 10

You are building a report to analyze sales performance by region. You need to allow users to dynamically switch between viewing data as a bar chart and a line chart without modifying the report page. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Use bookmarks with buttons to toggle between charts.. The correct option is A: use bookmarks with buttons to toggle between charts. In Power BI, bookmarks capture the current state of a report page—including visual visibility and chart type—so pairing two bookmarks (one showing the bar chart, one showing the line chart) with buttons lets users switch views dynamically without editing the report page. Slicers (B) filter data and cannot change a visual's chart type, and no standard slicer offers chart-type switching. A custom visual (C) is not required and would not provide the native toggle behavior described. Drillthrough pages (D) navigate to a filtered detail page rather than toggling the chart type in place.

Answer

Add a slicer that changes the chart type.

Answer

Use a custom visual with built-in toggle.

Answer

Create a drillthrough page for each chart type.

Question 11

You have a Power BI report with the DAX measure shown in the exhibit. Users report that the measure returns blank for some months even though sales data exists for both current and previous years. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The 'Date' table is not marked as a date table or is missing dates.. The correct answer is B: the 'Date' table is not marked as a date table or is missing dates. Time-intelligence functions such as SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR, DATEADD, and TOTALYTD rely on a contiguous, complete date table marked as a date table; if dates are missing or the table is not marked, the measure returns blank for those months even when underlying sales exist. Option A is wrong because SUM vs. SUMX affects row-context aggregation, not time-intelligence blank results. Option C is wrong because DIVIDE handles division by zero by returning BLANK or an alternate result, which is not the cause of missing months. Option D is wrong because single cross-filter direction is the default and correct setting for a one-to-many Date-to-Sales relationship and does not cause blanks in time intelligence.

Answer

The measure uses SUM instead of SUMX.

Answer

The DIVIDE function is incorrectly handling division by zero.

Answer

The relationship between 'Sales' and 'Date' is set to cross-filter direction single.

Question 12

You need to create a report that calculates running total of sales over time. Which Power BI feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Use the Quick Measure for 'Running total'. The correct option is A, the Quick Measure for 'Running total', because Power BI provides this built-in Quick Measure specifically to compute a cumulative sum of a value (e.g., sales) across a sorted axis such as a date, generating the required DAX automatically. It handles the filter context and ordering needed for a running total without manual coding. Option B is not the intended feature since writing a custom SUM/FILTER measure is a manual approach rather than the dedicated Power BI feature for this task. Option C is unsuitable because a calculated table is static and does not dynamically respond to report filters or slicers like a measure. Option D is incorrect because a calculated column using EARLIER computes row-level values at data refresh and cannot produce a dynamic running total in the report visual.

Answer

Write a measure using SUM and FILTER

Answer

Create a calculated table with running total

Answer

Add a calculated column using EARLIER function

Question 13

You need to design a report that allows users to see sales data at the year, quarter, and month levels, with the ability to expand and collapse hierarchies. Which visual type should you use?

Accepted Answer

Matrix visual. The correct option is C, the Matrix visual, because it natively supports hierarchical row/column groupings (such as Year > Quarter > Month) with expand/collapse controls, which is exactly what the report requires. A matrix also supports drill-down and drill-up through the hierarchy, letting users navigate from year to quarter to month levels. Option A is wrong because a Table visual does not provide expand/collapse hierarchy interaction. Option B is wrong because a stacked bar chart with drill-down changes the chart's level rather than offering expandable/collapsible hierarchy rows. Option D is wrong because a Card visual displays a single aggregated value and has no hierarchy support.

Answer

Table visual with hierarchy

Answer

Stacked bar chart with drill-down

Answer

Card visual with hierarchy

Question 14

Which THREE actions can help optimize a Power BI report's performance? (Select THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Reduce the number of visuals on a single page.. Option B is correct because each visual on a report page issues its own DAX queries against the dataset, so reducing the number of visuals per page lowers the number of concurrent queries and the rendering workload, improving report responsiveness. Option D is correct because pre-summarizing data in the source (for example, using SQL GROUP BY, views, or Power Query aggregation) reduces the volume of data loaded into the model and lets the engine scan smaller tables, which speeds up refresh and query execution. Option E is correct because cross-highlighting and cross-filtering force Power BI to re-query and re-render every affected visual whenever a selection is made; disabling them where interactivity isn't needed avoids that cascading query overhead. Option A is not appropriate because calculated columns are computed at refresh time, stored in the model, and consume memory, whereas measures are evaluated at query time and are the recommended approach for complex aggregations. Option C is not appropriate because importing all columns bloats the model, increases memory usage, and slows refresh and queries; best practice is to import only the columns actually needed.

Answer

Use calculated columns instead of measures for complex aggregations.

Answer

Import all columns from source tables to avoid missing data.

Question 15

Which TWO chart types are appropriate for comparing proportions of a whole? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

100% stacked bar chart. A 100% stacked bar chart (B) is correct because it normalizes each bar to 100%, so every segment represents a category's share of the total, making it ideal for comparing part-to-whole proportions across multiple groups. A pie chart (E) is correct because it divides a single circle into slices whose arc angles are proportional to each category's percentage of the whole, directly visualizing composition. The waterfall chart (A) is not appropriate here because it shows how sequential positive and negative values accumulate to a running total, not proportions of a whole. The scatter plot (C) is used to show the relationship or correlation between two numeric variables, and the line chart (D) is used to display trends over a continuous dimension such as time, so neither compares parts of a whole.

Answer

Waterfall chart

Answer

Scatter plot

Answer

Line chart