Extension:External Data

MediaWiki extensions manual

External Data Release status: stable
Implementation	Parser function , Special page
Description	Allows for using and displaying values retrieved from various sources: external URLs and SOAP services, local wiki pages and local files (in CSV, JSON, XML and other formats), database tables, LDAP servers and local programs output.
Author(s)	Yaron Koren, Alexander Mashin and others
Latest version	3.3 (November 2023)
Compatibility policy	Master maintains backward compatibility.
MediaWiki	1.37+
Database changes	Yes
Tables	ed_url_cache
License	GNU General Public License 2.0 or later
Download	See Download and installation
Example	A page containing information retrieved from an external CSV file
Parameters $wgSources $wgConnectors $wgAllowGetters $wgIntegratedConnectors $wgVerbose $wgParsers
Hooks used LoadExtensionSchemaUpdates ParserFirstCallInit ScribuntoExternalLibraries SoftwareInfo
Hooks provided ExternalDataBeforeWebCall
Translate the External Data extension if it is available at translatewiki.net
Issues	Open tasks · Report a bug

The External Data extension allows MediaWiki pages to retrieve, filter, and format structured data from one or more sources. These sources can include external URLs and SOAP services, regular wiki pages, uploaded files, files on the local server, databases, LDAP directories and local programs output.

The extension defines the following parser functions :

• Data retrieval and handling functions, which set local variables and then display or store them:
  • #external_value - displays the value of any such variable.
  • #for_external_table - cycles through all the values retrieved for a set of variables, displaying the same "container" text for each one.
  • #display_external_table - cycles through all the values retrieved for a set of variables, displaying each "row" using a template.
  • #format_external_table - available only if Cargo is installed. Formats the retrieved external data the same way as #cargo_query.
  • #store_external_table - cycles through a table of values, storing them as semantic data via the Semantic MediaWiki extension, by mimicking a call to SMW's #subobject function for each row.
• In the Legacy mode the extension also defines data retrieval functions, which set local variables available with wikipage scope that can later be displayed using the above functions:
  • #get_external_data - retrieves data from various sources, thus replacing any of the below parser functions, and assigns it to variables that can be accessed on the page.
  • #get_web_data - retrieves CSV, GFF, JSON, YAML, XML, HTML, ini, or free-form data from a URL and assigns it to variables that can be accessed on the page.
  • #get_soap_data - retrieves data from a URL via the SOAP protocol.
  • #get_file_data - retrieves data from a file on the local server, in the same formats as #get_web_data.
  • #get_db_data - retrieves data from a database.
  • #get_ldap_data - retrieves data from an LDAP server.
  • #get_program_data - retrieves data returned by a program run server-side.
  • #get_inline_data - parses data passed to it, in the same formats as #get_web_data.
  • and also #clear_external_data that erases the current set of retrieved data or only some variables.

It also defines a Lua function mw.ext.externalData.getExternalData that retrieves data and returns it as Lua table.

In the Legacy mode, the following additional Lua functions are also defined (there is one-to-one correspondence between parser functions retrieving data and Lua functions evident from their names):

• mw.ext.externalData.getWebData
• mw.ext.externalData.getFileData
• mw.ext.externalData.getDbData
• mw.ext.externalData.getSoapData
• mw.ext.externalData.getLdapData
• mw.ext.externalData.getProgramData
• mw.ext.externalData.getInlineData

In tag emulation mode, the wiki site administrator can define additional parser tags.

This version of the External Data extension requires MediaWiki 1.37+.

Click through the pages in the navigation bar above to learn more about External Data, how it works, how to use it, and how to install it.