DP-203 Copy activity pagination Practice Question
You are building a data pipeline that uses Azure Data Factory to copy data from a REST API to Azure Blob Storage. The REST API returns JSON data in pages of 1000 records each. The total number of records is 50,000. Which activity or feature should you use to loop through the pages?
⚠ Common exam trap
DP-203 often tests the preference for built-in pagination in Copy activity over manual looping, where candidates may overcomplicate with ForEach or Until activities.
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
✓
Use a Copy activity with pagination rules enabled in the source.
Azure Data Factory's Copy activity supports pagination rules that automatically handle paging through REST API responses. By configuring pagination rules in the source dataset, the Copy activity can iterate through pages until all data is copied, without needing explicit looping activities. This is the most efficient and recommended approach.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a ForEach activity to iterate over a fixed number of pages.
Why it's wrong here
Hard-coding a page count ignores the API's continuation token or nextLink, so iteration stops at an arbitrary number and breaks when record volumes change. ForEach over a fixed range fits static, known-length workloads; here the REST connector's built-in pagination rules handle the 50 pages directly.
- ✗
Use a Lookup activity to retrieve the total number of pages and then use a ForEach.
Why it's wrong here
A Lookup activity returns a single row or value, so it cannot enumerate page offsets; the REST connector's pagination rules already traverse pages automatically within one Copy activity. Lookup followed by ForEach suits scenarios needing per-item parameterisation, such as iterating a known list of tables or files.
- ✗
Use an Until activity to loop until the API returns no more pages.
Why it's wrong here
While an Until activity can loop, it is not designed to dynamically handle varying page counts or determine the end of a paged API response based on the content returned. It would require a predefined condition, making it unsuitable for iterating through an unknown number of pages. This option is tempting because Until activities are used for conditional looping, which is generally required for pagination, but they lack the built-in logic to inspect the API's response for a "no more pages" indicator.
- ✓
Use a Copy activity with pagination rules enabled in the source.
Why this is correct
Copy activity pagination rules let the source iterate REST API pages automatically using properties such as NextPageUrl or absolute URLs, retrieving all 50,000 records without a ForEach loop. This satisfies the stem's requirement to traverse 1,000-record pages efficiently.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
Go deeper
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.