Cancelled and duplicate protection
Lesson 8 of 17 7 min read
Why Supply Lens refuses to send the same thing twice, what Cancelled target data means, and how to deliberately send something again.
Sending an order to your warehouse twice can mean shipping it twice. Sending an invoice to a
retailer twice can mean awkward phone calls. Supply Lens has a built-in fail-safe to stop that
happening, and it is the reason you will sometimes see Cancelled on target data. In this
lesson you will learn how the fail-safe works, why it is your friend, and how to deliberately
send something again when you really mean to.
How the fail-safe works
Every piece of data has a reference, such as an order number. When Supply Lens processes data for an Integration, it checks whether target data with the same reference already exists for that Integration.
According to the help centre, Supply Lens still creates the new target data but sets its
communication status to Cancelled, so it is not sent. The help centre also describes this
check as making processing fail when a match is found. Either way, the outcome for you is the
same: no duplicate is sent.
Why this is useful
- No accidental duplicates. Reprocessing a Document by mistake does not resend it.
- Safe bulk reprocessing. You can reprocess a whole range of Documents, for example after fixing a missing product, confident that only the ones that never went will be sent.
- Safe testing. You can adjust and reprocess source data repeatedly without recreating target data each time.
Reading Cancelled correctly
Where you see Cancelled | What it means |
|---|---|
| On source data or a Document | Informational. The data is no longer in use and can be ignored. |
| On target data | Important. Either the fail-safe stopped a duplicate, or someone cancelled it deliberately. |
When you really do want to send it again
Sometimes a resend is right: the warehouse lost the order, or you have corrected a Document that was already sent. The rule is: cancel the existing target data first, then reprocess. With the old target data cancelled, the fail-safe no longer finds a live match, and new target data is created and sent.
- Open the target data list (or the Document's target data from its links menu).
- Find the existing target data for the Integration you want to send to again.
- Select it and choose Cancel and Reprocess, next to the Cancel button. This cancels it and reprocesses in one step.
You can also do it in two steps: Cancel the existing target data, then Reprocess the Document.
Check with the receiving system first
Before resending, make sure the receiving system really does not have it. If the warehouse already has the order and you resend, you may create exactly the duplicate the fail-safe was protecting you from.
Mappings that allow duplicates
A Mapping that turns Documents into target data has a setting, in the Miscellaneous section of the Mapping editor, that controls whether it may create duplicate target data. This is a setup decision for whoever manages your Mappings, not a day-to-day tool. Leave it alone unless you have agreed otherwise with Support.
The order Northgate lost
Northgate phones: a system problem on their side lost this morning's orders, including
#2401. In Supply Lens, the target data for Northgate shows Sent, so Supply Lens did deliver
it. Priya reprocesses the Document anyway, out of habit. New target data appears, marked
Cancelled. The fail-safe has spotted the existing Sent record and refused to send a
duplicate.
Having confirmed with Northgate that they definitely do not have the order, Priya selects the original target data and chooses Cancel and Reprocess. New target data is created and sent, and Northgate confirms receipt.
Recap
- Supply Lens checks for existing target data with the same reference for the same Integration, and will not send a duplicate.
Cancelledon source data or a Document is informational; on target data it usually means a duplicate was stopped.- To send again on purpose: cancel the existing target data, then reprocess, or use Cancel and Reprocess in one step.
- Confirm the receiving system really does not have it before you resend.
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