The External Data Provider enables you to integrate external data into your SharePoint-based solutions. It can access data from a variety of sources such as MS SQL Server, MS Project Server, and other back end systems.
The External Data Provider converts external data into a standard XML format, which can then be consumed in a variety of ways. It stores its configuration information in XML files that can be reused throughout your SharePoint environment.
Any parameters that reference a variable support the following variables:
• <%CurrentPageFolder%> - The current folder URL where the web part resides (e.g., http://www.company.com/sites/site1/connections)
• <%HostName%> - The host name of the site where the web part resides (e.g., www.company.com)
• <%SiteSecurityType%> - The protocol type of the site where the web part resides (e.g., http://)
• <%SiteURL%> - The absolute path to the site where the web part resides (e.g., http://www.company.com/sites/site1)
Example: <%SiteSecurityType%><%HostName%>/data/connections/dataprovider.aspx