Databricks-DA-Assoc Managing Data Practice Question
A data analyst has a Delta table `events` in Unity Catalog and needs to see the history of operations performed on it, including which user ran each operation and when, in order to audit recent changes. Which command should the analyst run?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse table history with table detail or time travel, which look similar but serve very different audit purposes.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
DESCRIBE HISTORY events;
Delta Lake records every transaction in its log, and DESCRIBE HISTORY exposes that log as a table with version, timestamp, operation, and user columns. This is the intended command for auditing who changed a table and when. The other options either list schema objects, describe storage metadata, or read data at a point in time, none of which provide the operation audit trail.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
DESCRIBE DETAIL events;
Why it's wrong here
DESCRIBE DETAIL returns table-level metadata such as format, location, number of files, size, partition columns, and table properties. It does not include the per-operation audit trail with user and timestamp that the analyst needs. It is useful for understanding storage characteristics but not for change history.
- ✗
SELECT * FROM events VERSION AS OF 0;
Why it's wrong here
Time travel with VERSION AS OF reads the data as it existed at a specific version, but it returns the table rows, not the operation history. It can help compare data states, yet it does not reveal which user performed which operation or when, so it fails the audit requirement of the scenario.
- ✗
SHOW TABLES IN main.default;
Why it's wrong here
SHOW TABLES lists table names in a schema; it does not expose any operation history, user identities, or timestamps for a specific table. It would only confirm that the events table exists, which is not what the scenario asks for. It is a schema-level listing command, not a table-level audit command.
- ✓
DESCRIBE HISTORY events;
Why this is correct
DESCRIBE HISTORY returns the Delta transaction log entries for the table, including version, timestamp, operation, operation parameters, user identity, and other metadata. This directly satisfies the requirement to audit who changed the table and when, and it is the canonical Delta Lake command for table history inspection in Databricks.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Databricks exam blueprint
This Databricks-DA-Assoc practice question is part of Courseiva's free Databricks certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the Databricks-DA-Assoc exam.