Databricks-DA-Assoc Managing Data Practice Question
You are an analyst in a Unity Catalog-enabled Databricks workspace. A colleague has shared a table `finance.transactions` with you, and you need to confirm what privileges you currently hold on it before running a sensitive query. Which TWO of the following statements about inspecting privileges in Unity Catalog are accurate? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE shows all effective privileges, when inheritance from catalog and schema means you must check multiple levels.
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
✓
You can run SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE finance.transactions to see the privileges granted on that specific table.
Unity Catalog uses a hierarchical privilege model, so inspecting a table involves both the direct grants on the table and the inherited grants from its catalog and schema. SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE reveals direct table grants, while effective access can come from higher levels. The other statements misstate the command's scope, required permissions, or inheritance behavior and would lead an analyst to wrong conclusions about their access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
You can run SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE finance.transactions to see the privileges granted on that specific table.
Why this is correct
SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE returns the privileges granted on the specified securable, including which principals hold SELECT, MODIFY, or other rights. It is the direct way to inspect table-level grants in Unity Catalog and works with the three-part catalog.schema.table namespace, so it correctly answers what privileges exist on the transactions table.
- ✓
Privileges granted at the catalog or schema level are inherited by the table, so SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE may not show every effective privilege you hold.
Why this is correct
Unity Catalog privileges are hierarchical: grants at the catalog or schema propagate to objects within them. SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE lists grants applied directly to the table, but your effective ability to query it can also come from inherited catalog or schema grants. This makes the statement accurate about how effective privileges are determined.
- ✗
You must be the table owner or a metastore admin to run SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE on a table you can query.
Why it's wrong here
Users with sufficient privileges on the securable, such as the owner or a user granted the necessary rights, can inspect grants; being able to query the table is generally sufficient context. Requiring ownership or metastore admin is too restrictive and does not reflect how privilege inspection works for analysts in Unity Catalog.
- ✗
SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE finance.transactions will also list the privileges granted on the parent catalog and schema automatically.
Why it's wrong here
SHOW GRANTS is scoped to the securable named in the command. To see catalog-level or schema-level grants, you must run SHOW GRANTS ON CATALOG or SHOW GRANTS ON SCHEMA separately. The command does not automatically roll up parent grants into the table output, so this statement is inaccurate.
- ✗
SHOW GRANTS ON TABLE returns only the privileges of the current user and hides grants to other principals for privacy.
Why it's wrong here
SHOW GRANTS is not scoped to the current user; it lists grants for the securable across principals, subject to your own permission to view them. It does not filter output to only your identity. The statement misrepresents how the command behaves and would mislead an analyst trying to understand who else can access the table.
About these practice questions
One of 291 original Databricks-DA-Assoc practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.