PL-300 Model the data Practice Question
You are a data analyst for a manufacturing company. You have a Power BI semantic model with a table named Production that includes a column ProductionDate of data type Date/Time. You need to create a calculated column that returns the year from ProductionDate. Which DAX function should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is using FORMAT to extract the year, which returns a text string and can cause sorting issues.
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
✓
YEAR(Production[ProductionDate])
The YEAR function is the correct DAX function to extract the year from a date column. It returns an integer and is efficient. The other options either return text, convert text to date, or are not valid DAX functions. Using YEAR is the standard approach for creating a year calculated column.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
YEAR(Production[ProductionDate])
Why this is correct
The YEAR function extracts the year from a date column and returns an integer. It is the correct function for this requirement. It works on a column reference and can be used in a calculated column. This is a straightforward and efficient way to get the year component from a date.
- ✗
FORMAT(Production[ProductionDate], "YYYY")
Why it's wrong here
The FORMAT function returns a text string, not an integer. While it can extract the year as text, it is not suitable if you need to use the year in calculations or sort chronologically. It also has performance overhead. The requirement is to return the year, which is typically an integer for analytical purposes.
- ✗
DATEVALUE(Production[ProductionDate])
Why it's wrong here
DATEVALUE converts a text representation of a date to a date/time value. It does not extract the year; it returns a date. It is used when you have a date stored as text. Here, ProductionDate is already a Date/Time data type, so DATEVALUE is unnecessary and would not return the year.
- ✗
EXTRACT(YEAR FROM Production[ProductionDate])
Why it's wrong here
EXTRACT is not a DAX function; it is used in SQL. In DAX, you use YEAR, MONTH, DAY functions to extract components. This option is invalid in Power BI and would result in an error. It is a common mistake for those familiar with SQL.
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Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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