Use the COPY INTO Command to Incrementally Load Files from Cloud Object Storage (ADLS/S3/GCS) into Unity‑Catalog–governed Tables. DATA-ENGINEER-ASSOCIATE Practice Questions (Page 3)

Questions 11–15

1. 11foundation · easy

   How does COPY INTO avoid reloading the same files on subsequent runs?

   • AIt uses a separate tracking table in the metastore to record processed files.
   • BIt deletes source files after a successful load to prevent reprocessing.
   • CIt compares file checksums against a manifest stored in the cloud storage path.
   • DIt records file metadata, such as path and version, in the target Delta table's transaction log.
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2. 12application · medium

   A data engineer needs to load data from a directory containing both CSV and Parquet files into a single Delta table. The files have different schemas. What is the best approach?

   • AUse a single COPY INTO command with FILEFORMAT = 'PARQUET' and use FORMAT_OPTIONS to handle the CSV files.
   • BFirst convert all Parquet files to CSV, then use a single COPY INTO command.
   • CUse a single COPY INTO command with FILEFORMAT = 'CSV' and rely on schema inference to handle the Parquet files.
   • DUse two separate COPY INTO commands, one for each file format, targeting the same table.
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4. 13foundation · easy

   What is a limitation of schema evolution with COPY INTO?

   • AIt cannot add new columns if the table already contains data.
   • BIt only works for Parquet files.
   • CIt can only add new columns at the end of the table schema.
   • DIt requires the table to be recreated after schema changes.
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5. 14application · medium

   A data engineer is loading Parquet files into a Delta table using COPY INTO. The source files have a column 'id' of type integer. The engineer wants to change the column type to long in the target table. What is the correct approach?

   • AUse COPY INTO with COPY_OPTIONS ('mergeSchema' = 'true') to automatically change the column type.
   • BUse COPY INTO with COPY_OPTIONS ('schemaEvolution' = 'full') to automatically change the column type.
   • CUse COPY INTO with FORMAT_OPTIONS ('mergeSchema' = 'true') to automatically change the column type.
   • DUse ALTER TABLE to change the column type to long, then run COPY INTO to load the data.
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6. 15foundation · easy

   When using COPY INTO, which COPY_OPTIONS setting allows the load to continue even if some files contain malformed records?

   • AON_ERROR = 'skip'
   • BIGNORE_ERRORS = true
   • CON_ERROR = 'continue'
   • DVALIDATE_MODE = true
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