DP-203 Develop data processing Practice Question
Exhibit
CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE SalesData WITH ( LOCATION = 'https://mystorageaccount.dfs.core.windows.net/sales', CREDENTIAL = StorageCred ); CREATE EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT ParquetFormat WITH ( FORMAT_TYPE = PARQUET, DATA_COMPRESSION = 'org.apache.hadoop.io.compress.SnappyCodec' ); CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE dbo.Sales ( SaleID INT, ProductID INT, SaleDate DATE, Amount DECIMAL(10,2) ) WITH ( LOCATION = 'parquet/sales/', DATA_SOURCE = SalesData, FILE_FORMAT = ParquetFormat );
Refer to the exhibit. You created an external table in Azure Synapse Analytics serverless SQL pool to query Parquet files. Queries return no rows even though the files exist. What is the most likely issue?
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
✓
The LOCATION path in the external table is relative to the data source, but the data source points to the wrong container or folder
The most likely issue is that the LOCATION path in the external table is relative to the data source. In the exhibit, the external data source points to the root container 'sales', and the external table LOCATION is 'parquet/sales/'. The combined path becomes 'sales/parquet/sales/', which is likely incorrect. The correct data source should point to the container containing the 'parquet' folder, or the LOCATION should be adjusted. Option A is incorrect because CREDENTIAL is already defined. Option B is incorrect because FILE_FORMAT is specified and valid for Parquet. Option C is incorrect because DATA_COMPRESSION is supported for Parquet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The CREDENTIAL is missing
Why it's wrong here
Credential is defined.
- ✗
The FILE_FORMAT is incorrectly specified
Why it's wrong here
It is correct.
- ✗
The DATA_COMPRESSION is not supported for Parquet
Why it's wrong here
Snappy compression is supported.
- ✓
The LOCATION path in the external table is relative to the data source, but the data source points to the wrong container or folder
Why this is correct
The data source points to 'sales' container, table location adds 'parquet/sales', likely the files are not there.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-203 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 DP-203 exam.