Mixed Deck — All Microsoft Power BI Topics Flashcards
100 cards from real Microsoft Power BI practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 20 Mixed Deck — All Microsoft Power BI Topics flashcards as text
What is the benefit of marking a table as a Date table in the model?
Answer: Enables proper time-intelligence calculations
Marking a date table ensures DAX time-intelligence functions work correctly.
What does the 'Group By' transformation in Power Query do?
Answer: Aggregates rows based on one or more key columns and applies operations like Sum, Count, or Average
Group By aggregates data by grouping rows with the same key column values and applying aggregation operations such as Sum, Count, Min, Max, or Average.
What does 'Query Folding' mean in Power Query?
Answer: The ability for Power Query to push transformation steps back to the data source as native queries
Query Folding means Power Query translates transformation steps into native source queries (like SQL), so the source executes them instead of Power Query processing everything in memory.
What is a 'Query Dependency' in Power Query?
Answer: A relationship between queries where one query references or is built upon another
A Query Dependency exists when one Power Query query uses another as its source, creating a dependency chain visible in the Query Dependencies view.
What is a 'Workspace' in Power BI Service?
Answer: A collaborative container in Power BI Service for organizing reports, dashboards, and datasets
Workspaces are collaborative environments in Power BI Service where team members can share and manage reports, dashboards, datasets, and dataflows.
What do you use in Power BI to group your queries?
Answer: Join Queries
In Power BI, when you need to combine data from multiple tables or queries based on common columns, you use "Join Queries" (specifically, merge queries in Power Query Editor). This operation links rows from two tables, effectively grouping their data together into a single, more comprehensive query result. This is distinct from appending queries, which stacks rows from tables with identical column structures.
What does the IF() function do in DAX?
Answer: Evaluates a condition and returns one of two values depending on whether it's TRUE or FALSE
IF() evaluates a logical condition and returns the first value if TRUE or the second value (or BLANK) if FALSE.
What is the purpose of the 'Audit Log' retention period setting for Power BI?
Answer: How long Power BI user activity events are retained in the Microsoft 365 audit log (up to 90 days for standard, 1 year for E5)
Power BI activity events stored in the Microsoft 365 Unified Audit Log are retained for 90 days by default (or up to 1 year with E5 licensing or add-ons).
Which connectors in Power BI can be used to retrieve data from REST APIs?
Answer: Both the OData Feed connector and the Web connector
Both the OData Feed connector (for OData-compliant APIs) and the Web connector (for general HTTP endpoints) can retrieve data from REST APIs in Power BI.
What is 'row context' in DAX and in which situations does it exist?
Answer: The current row being iterated in a calculated column or iterator function like SUMX
Row context exists during calculated column evaluation and inside DAX iterator functions like SUMX, giving access to the current row's values.
What isn't a Power BI visual that's built-in?
Answer: Power KPI
Power BI Desktop comes with a rich set of built-in visuals, including common charts like Funnel charts, Waterfall charts, and specialized visuals like ArcGIS maps. 'Power KPI' is not a standard built-in visual; it is typically a custom visual that users can import from the AppSource marketplace to extend Power BI's capabilities. Built-in visuals are available by default in the visualization pane.
What does the 'Analytics Pane' in Power BI Desktop provide for visuals?
Answer: Options to add dynamic reference lines like average lines, trend lines, min/max lines, and percentile lines to visuals
The Analytics Pane in Power BI Desktop allows you to add analytical overlay lines (constant lines, trend lines, forecast lines, average lines, etc.) to supported visuals without writing DAX.
What is an 'ArcGIS Maps' visual in Power BI primarily used for?
Answer: Advanced geographic mapping and spatial analysis with features like heat maps, clustering, and reference layers
ArcGIS Maps for Power BI, provided by Esri, offers advanced mapping capabilities including heat maps, drive-time analysis, demographic reference layers, and spatial clustering beyond standard map visuals.
What does the 'Assume Referential Integrity' option do when enabled on a relationship in Power BI?
Answer: Allows Power BI to use more efficient INNER JOIN queries instead of OUTER JOINs
Enabling 'Assume Referential Integrity' tells Power BI to use INNER JOINs instead of OUTER JOINs, improving query performance.
What kind of computation should Total Cost be according to best practice in the recipe Total Cost = Sum('Fact'[Cost])?
Answer: Variable
While `Total Cost = Sum('Fact'[Cost])` directly defines a measure in Power BI, best practices for complex DAX calculations often involve using `VAR` (variable) statements. Defining intermediate calculations like `Total Cost` as a variable within a larger measure improves readability, simplifies debugging, and can optimize performance by ensuring the calculation is executed only once. This approach makes the overall DAX expression more modular and maintainable.
Which engine is used in Power Query to transform and shape data?
Answer: M (Power Query Formula Language)
Power Query uses the M formula language to perform data transformation steps.
What is a 'Scorecard' in Power BI Service?
Answer: A feature for tracking goals and metrics with defined targets, owners, and check-ins aligned to strategic objectives
Power BI Scorecards allow organizations to define, track, and manage key metrics against targets with ownership, status updates, and notes for business goal alignment.
What is the 'Microsoft Purview Integration' with Power BI used for?
Answer: Cataloging Power BI datasets and lineage in Microsoft Purview for enterprise data governance and discoverability
Microsoft Purview integration scans Power BI and registers datasets, reports, and data lineage in the Purview Data Catalog, enabling organization-wide data governance.
In Power BI, what is the purpose of a 'bridge table' in a many-to-many relationship scenario?
Answer: To resolve many-to-many relationships by breaking them into two one-to-many relationships
A bridge table resolves many-to-many relationships by acting as an intermediary table, splitting the relationship into two one-to-many links.
What is the fundamental difference between Import mode and DirectQuery mode in Power BI?
Answer: Import caches data in Power BI's in-memory engine; DirectQuery queries the source at render time
Import mode loads and compresses data into Power BI's in-memory VertiPaq engine, while DirectQuery forwards each visual's query to the source system in real time.