Adobe Campaign Business Practitioner (CBP) Certification Practice Exam

When using a group by clause in a query, what is primarily achieved?

1. Sorting data in ascending order

2. Combining rows that have the same values in specified columns

3. Filtering out duplicate values

4. Calculating total statistics

The correct answer is: Combining rows that have the same values in specified columns

When using a group by clause in a query, one primarily achieves the combination of rows that have the same values in specified columns. This functionality is essential in queries where aggregation is required, allowing users to organize and summarize data effectively. For instance, if you have a dataset containing sales records, using the group by clause on the 'customer' column can aggregate all sales made by each customer into a single record for that customer. This way, you can analyze the data by customer rather than by individual transactions, providing a clearer picture of overall performance metrics. While calculating total statistics can also be part of the outcome when combined with functions like SUM, AVG, or COUNT, the fundamental role of the group by clause is indeed to combine rows based on shared attribute values. The other options, such as sorting data in ascending order or filtering out duplicates, do not capture the primary function of the group by clause, which centers on creating summaries or aggregations of data points based on specific criteria.