According to this: http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361L-01/lvconcepts/external_data_val_ref/#EDVR
I've never used it, but I know at least one place where they're created: the DMA read/write to FPGA (http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371599J-01/lvfpgahost/fpga_method_fifo_acqwrite/ and http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371599J-01/lvfpgahost/fpga_method_fifo_acqwrite/). And then you can use them with Advanced Data Reference I/O from TDMS pallete. It seems like the code in the following picture might have some magical properties, like reducing the memory usage, or enabling really fast data transfers from DMA to files... Has anyone ever used this?