DAA-C01 Question 65
Single answerData lineageA data analyst needs to assess the downstream impact of changing a derived column in a curated SALES_MART table. The analyst wants to identify which dashboards, worksheets, and downstream Snowflake objects consume data from this table so stakeholders can be notified before the change is deployed. Which Snowflake capability should the analyst use to get the most direct lineage view for this purpose?
- A
Use Snowflake Horizon Catalog lineage to trace upstream and downstream dependencies for the SALES_MART table and related objects
- B
Query only INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS for the SALES_MART table to determine all downstream consumers
- C
Review the table's clustering information and micro-partition metadata to infer which dashboards depend on the table
- D
Use Time Travel on the SALES_MART table to identify all reports and views that reference the changed column
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
For data lineage and impact analysis in Snowflake, the most appropriate capability is Snowflake Horizon Catalog lineage, which is intended to help users understand upstream sources and downstream consumers of data assets. This supports common governance and change-management tasks such as evaluating the effect of modifying a derived column. In contrast, INFORMATION_SCHEMA views provide structural metadata, not a full dependency graph; clustering and micro-partition details are performance/storage concepts; and Time Travel is for historical data access and recovery, not lineage. Best practice is to use lineage tools for impact analysis before schema or semantic changes so affected consumers can be identified and notified.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Snowflake Horizon Catalog provides lineage capabilities designed to show upstream and downstream relationships across Snowflake data assets. For impact analysis, lineage is the most direct way to understand how a table feeds other objects and, where supported, associated analytics assets such as dashboards and worksheets. This is the appropriate capability for assessing change impact before modifying a derived column.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS provides metadata about column definitions, but it does not provide a complete downstream lineage graph of consumers such as views, dashboards, worksheets, or other dependent assets. Someone might choose this option because metadata views are often used for discovery, but they are not sufficient for end-to-end lineage analysis.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Clustering and micro-partition metadata relate to storage organization and query performance, not dependency tracking or lineage. This distractor reflects a common misconception that low-level table metadata can be used to infer business-level downstream usage.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Time Travel allows access to historical versions of table data for a retention period, but it does not identify all dependent reports, dashboards, or objects that reference a table or column. A candidate might confuse historical data recovery with dependency analysis, but these are different capabilities.