Chapter 5. External Data Access

This chapter describes external data access techniques. They include using REST-based URLs via WCF Data Services. This is a common way to read and write data provided by SharePoint from remote locations where the API is not available.

The opposite scenario allows SharePoint to gather data from external systems—principally line-of-business (LOB) applications or native databases. Business Connectivity Services (BCS) smoothly integrates with SharePoint, making external data available as if it were a regular SharePoint list.

This chapter covers the following:

  • Querying data using WCF Data Services

  • Accessing external data using Business Connectivity Services

  • Highly efficient data access using the SharePoint database

The basic ...

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