DP-600 Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric Questions and Answers

The charts in the Fabric notebook are summarizing customer churn data (retained vs lost customers) across dimensions such as geography, products purchased, age, and tenure. This is describing "what has happened" in the data.

Descriptive analytics summarizes and visualizes historical data.

Diagnostic analytics explains "why" events occurred.

Predictive analytics forecasts future outcomes.

Prescriptive analytics recommends actions.

Since only distributions are being shown, this is descriptive analytics.

 Calculation groups are a Tabular Object Model (TOM) feature.

 They cannot be authored in Power BI Desktop or the service.

 They are implemented using Tabular Editor.

Comprehensive Detailed Explanation

The requirement is to logically group the Research division workspaces and support filtering in the OneLake data hub.

Why Domain?

Microsoft Fabric allows you to assign workspace domains (e.g., Finance, HR, Research).

This provides a logical grouping of workspaces within the organization.

Domains are the only supported way to enable filtering in OneLake data hub by department.

Capacity or tenant grouping would not allow filtering by department in OneLake.

Why OneLake data hub?

The OneLake data hub is the centralized interface to browse and discover data assets across the organization.

With workspace domains configured, users can filter directly in the OneLake data hub by domain (e.g., “Research”).

The Fabric Admin portal and Entra admin center are used for administration, not for workspace filtering in data discovery.

Correct Selection for the Hotspot

Grouping method: Domain

Tool: OneLake data hub

References

Workspace domains in Microsoft Fabric

Discover and filter data in OneLake data hub

Final Answer:

Grouping method = Domain

Tool = OneLake data hub

You need to recommend which type of Fabric capacity SKU meets the data analytics requirements for the Research division.

Requirement: “The Research division workspaces must use a dedicated, on-demand capacity that has per-minute billing.”

Fabric capacity SKUs:

F (Fabric) = dedicated Fabric capacity, available on pay-as-you-go with per-minute billing.

P (Premium) and EM are Power BI capacities (not Fabric-native).

A refers to Azure Analysis Services capacity.

The only correct option is F SKU.

Comprehensive Detailed Explanation

We need to calculate the proportion of the total quantity of each sales order represented by each product within the sales order.

Step 1: Analyze the requirement

Table: SalesOrderDetail

Columns: OrderQty, ProductID, SalesOrderID

Each row = one product in a sales order.

Requirement: For each SalesOrderID, calculate what percentage each product contributes to the total order quantity.

This means we must:

Calculate the total order quantity per SalesOrderID.

Divide each product’s OrderQty by that total.

Express it as a percentage.

Step 2: Evaluate the options

A. Uses OVER(ORDER BY ProductID)

Wrong: ORDER BY does not segment data, it only defines sequence. We need grouping by sales order.

B. Uses OVER(PARTITION BY ProductID)

Wrong: This would calculate percentages per product across all sales orders, not per sales order.

C. Uses OVER(PARTITION BY SalesOrderID)

Correct: This computes the total OrderQty per SalesOrderID and divides each product’s quantity by that total. Exactly what the requirement asks.

D. Uses OVER(ORDER BY SalesOrderID)

Wrong: Again, ORDER BY just sequences rows, does not group them.

Step 3: Correct Query

SELECT

SalesOrderID,

ProductID,

OrderQty,

CAST(1. * OrderQty / SUM(OrderQty)

OVER(PARTITION BY SalesOrderID) * 100 AS DECIMAL(5,2))

AS PercentByProductID

FROM Sales.SalesOrderDetail;

Why Option C is Correct

PARTITION BY SalesOrderID ensures the denominator is the total quantity for the current order.

This produces the correct percentage breakdown of each product inside its sales order.

References

T-SQL Window Functions

Aggregate Functions with PARTITION BY

Microsoft Fabric Warehouse T-SQL Support

Remove the files: Run the VACUUM command on a schedule.

Combine the files: Set the optimizeWrite table setting. or Run the OPTIMIZE command on a schedule.

To remove files that are no longer used, the VACUUM command is used in Delta Lake to clean up invalid files from a table. To combine smaller files into larger ones, you can either set the optimizeWrite setting to combine files during write operations or use the OPTIMIZE command, which is a Delta Lake operation used to compact small files into larger ones.

Comprehensive Detailed Explanation

From the case study:

Research division data for Productline2 is currently in CSV format in storage2.

Requirement: “All the Research division data in the lakehouses must be presented as managed tables in Lakehouse explorer.”

In Fabric lakehouses, managed tables are stored in Delta format inside the Tables folder.

Step 1: Reading the source

df = spark.read.format("csv") \

options(header="true", inferSchema="true") \

load("abfss://storage1.dfs.core.windows.net/files/productline2")

This correctly ingests the CSV source from ADLS Gen2.

Step 2: Writing to Lakehouse as a managed table

You must write the data in Delta format to ensure it is queryable and managed within the lakehouse.

The correct path is under Tables/, because this is where Fabric automatically manages Lakehouse managed tables.

The target table should be named productline2, so the correct path is:

df.write.mode("overwrite").format("delta").save("Tables/productline2")

Why not other options?

CSV or Parquet formats would not create a managed Lakehouse table; they would just create files.

Writing to productline2 directly (without Tables/) would store unmanaged files in the Lakehouse Files area, not managed tables.

Writing to Tables/research/productline2 adds an unnecessary subdirectory and is not the standard structure for managed tables.

Correct Final Code

df.write.mode("overwrite").format("delta").save("Tables/productline2")

References

Managed tables in Microsoft Fabric Lakehouse

Delta Lake support in Fabric

Spark write to Lakehouse

Requirement: “The number of rows added to the Orders table during refreshes must be minimized.”

The Orders table has a sequential OrderID.

To minimize refresh size, you must only import new rows, not the entire table.

This requires retrieving the maximum OrderID currently loaded, then only loading rows with a greater OrderID.

So, the correct solution is to use a pipeline (ADF) with a dataflow to retrieve the maximum OrderID.

Answer: C. an Azure Data Factory pipeline that executes a dataflow to retrieve the maximum value of the OrderID column in the destination lakehouse

Comprehensive Detailed Explanation

We need to write a query that summarizes order quantities by year and product, and also include the yearly total for all products in each row.

Step 1: What the query needs

Extract the year from SalesOrderDetail.ModifiedDate.

Join with the Product table to get the product name.

Aggregate with SUM(OrderQty).

Return grouped data by year and product, with an additional subtotal row per year (all products combined).

Step 2: Evaluate the SELECT Clause

We must extract the year using:

YEAR(so.ModifiedDate) AS OrderDate

This converts the ModifiedDate column into a year value for grouping.

Step 3: Evaluate the GROUP BY options

CUBE(YEAR, P.Name) → Produces all combinations of year totals, product totals, and grand totals. Too many combinations, not required.

GROUPING SETS → Could achieve the result but requires explicitly listing the sets. Less direct.

ROLLUP(YEAR, P.Name) → Produces grouping by (Year, Product) and then a subtotal per Year. Exactly what is required.

YEAR only → Would group only by year, losing per-product breakdown.

Correct: ROLLUP(YEAR(so.ModifiedDate), P.Name)

Step 4: Completed Query

SELECT

YEAR(so.ModifiedDate) AS OrderDate,

p.Name,

SUM(so.OrderQty) AS OrderQty

FROM dbo.SalesOrderDetail so

INNER JOIN dbo.Product p

ON p.ProductID = so.ProductID

GROUP BY ROLLUP(YEAR(so.ModifiedDate), p.Name);

Why This Works

YEAR(so.ModifiedDate) extracts year for grouping.

ROLLUP(YEAR, P.Name) provides both product-level totals and yearly subtotals.

Ensures the requirement: “include the yearly sum of order quantities for all the products in each row.”

References

GROUP BY ROLLUP in T-SQL

Aggregate functions in Microsoft Fabric warehouses

The Vertipaq Analyzer tool (B) and querying the $system.discovered_STORAGE_TABLE_COLUMNS_IN_SEGMENTS dynamic management view (DMV) (C) can help identify which columns are frequently loaded into memory. Both methods provide insights into the storage and retrieval aspects of the semantic model. References = The Power BI documentation on Vertipaq Analyzer and DMV queries offers detailed guidance on how to use these tools for performance analysis.

To identify whether throttling is occurring, you should use the Monitoring hub (B). This provides a centralized place where you can monitor and manage the health, performance, and reliability of your data estate, and see if the compute resources are being throttled. References = The use of the Monitoring hub for performance management and troubleshooting is detailed in the Azure Synapse Analytics documentation.

Folding in Power Query refers to operations that can be translated into source queries. In this case, "some" of the steps can be folded, which means that some transformations will be executed at the data source level. The steps that cannot be folded will be executed within the Power Query engine. Custom steps, especially those that are not standard query operations, are usually executed within Power Query engine rather than being pushed down to the source system.

References =

Query folding in Power Query

Power Query M formula language

A possible cause for the failure is that query folding is NOT occurring (D). Query folding helps optimize refresh by pushing down the query logic to the source system, reducing the amount of data processed and transferred, hence conserving resources. References = The Power BI documentation on incremental refresh and query folding provides detailed information on this topic.

You should use CREATE VIEW to make the pricing group logic available for T-SQL queries.

The CASE statement should be used to determine the pricing group based on the list price.

The T-SQL statement should create a view that classifies products into pricing groups based on the list price. The CASE statement is the correct conditional logic to assign each product to the appropriate pricing group. This view will standardize the pricing group logic across different databases and semantic models.

A lakehouse (C) should be recommended for the AnalyticsPOC workspace. It combines the capabilities of a data warehouse with the flexibility of a data lake. A lakehouse supports semi-structured and unstructured data and allows for T-SQL and Python read access, fulfilling the technical requirements outlined for Litware. References = For further understanding, Microsoft's documentation on the lakehouse architecture provides insights into how it supports various data types and analytical operations.

Both a dataflow (A) and a Stored procedure activity in a pipeline (B) are capable of creating and populating a date dimension table. A dataflow can perform the transformation needed to create the date dimension, and it aligns with the preference for using low-code tools for data ingestion when possible. A Stored procedure could be written to generate the necessary date dimension data and executed within a pipeline, which also adheres to the technical requirements for the PoC.

To meet the technical requirement that data loading activities must ensure the raw and cleansed data is updated completely before populating the dimensional model, you would need a mechanism that allows for ordered execution. A pipeline in Microsoft Fabric with dependencies set between activities can ensure that activities are executed in a specific sequence. Once set up, the pipeline can be scheduled to run at the required intervals (hourly or daily depending on the data source).

For ingesting customer data into the data store in the AnalyticsPOC workspace, a dataflow (D) should be recommended. Dataflows are designed within the Power BI service to ingest, cleanse, transform, and load data into the Power BI environment. They allow for the low-code ingestion and transformation of data as needed by Litware's technical requirements. References = You can learn more about dataflows and their use in Power BI environments in Microsoft's Power BI documentation.

The PoC is planned to be completed using a Fabric trial capacity, which implies that users involved in the PoC should be able to try paid features. However, this should be limited to specific security groups involved in the PoC to prevent the entire organization from accessing these features before the trial is proven successful (A). The ability for users to create Fabric items should also be enabled for specific security groups to ensure that only the relevant team members participating in the PoC can create items in the Fabric environment (E).

The measure should use the AVERAGE function to calculate the average value.

It should reference the Response Value column from the 'Survey' table.

The 'Number of months' should be used to define the period for the average calculation.

To calculate the average overall satisfaction score using DAX, you would need to use the AVERAGE function on the response values related to satisfaction questions. The DATESINPERIOD function will help in calculating the rolling average over the last 12 months.

For the semantic model design required for the customer satisfaction report, the choices for data source authentication method and mode should be made based on security and performance considerations as per the case study provided.

Authentication method: The data should be accessed securely, and given that row-level security (RLS) is required for users executing T-SQL queries, you should use an authentication method that supports RLS. Service principal authentication is suitable for automated and secure access to the data, especially when the access needs to be controlled programmatically and is not tied to a specific user's credentials.

Mode: The report needs to show data as soon as it is updated in the data store, and it should only contain data from the current and previous year. DirectQuery mode allows for real-time reporting without importing data into the model, thus meeting the need for up-to-date data. It also allows for RLS to be implemented and enforced at the data source level, providing the necessary security measures.

Based on these considerations, the selections should be:

Authentication method: Service principal authentication

Mode: DirectQuery

Comprehensive Detailed Explanation

When assigning permissions to roles in a Fabric workspace for analytics workloads, you must align permissions with the responsibilities and tools typically used by each persona:

1. Data Engineers

Their primary tasks include building and transforming data pipelines, as well as making datasets usable by others.

The appropriate permission is Build Reports on the default dataset, because this allows them to create and manage reports using the curated semantic model while preparing data for analysts and scientists.

2. Data Analysts

Analysts work heavily with Apache Spark for exploratory analysis, cleansing, and shaping data.

The correct permission is Read All Apache Spark, as this grants them the ability to query and analyze Spark-based data directly without elevated permissions that are unnecessary for their role.

3. Data Scientists

Data scientists often use SQL analytics endpoints to run queries, train models, and integrate data into machine learning workflows.

The correct permission is Read All SQL analytics endpoint data, since it enables direct programmatic access to the SQL endpoint, which is needed for advanced modeling and experimentation.

Summary of Selections:

DataEngineers → Build Reports on the default dataset

DataAnalysts → Read All Apache Spark

DataScientists → Read All SQL analytics endpoint data

References (Microsoft Fabric – DP-600 exam scope):

Workspace roles and permissions in Microsoft Fabric

SQL analytics endpoint in Fabric

Apache Spark in Microsoft Fabric