Two kinds of status
Lesson 5 of 17 5 min read
Supply Lens tracks whether data was processed and, separately, whether it was communicated. Knowing which is which tells you where to look.
Statuses are the quickest way to tell whether something needs you. But "the status" can mean two different things in Supply Lens, and mixing them up sends people looking in the wrong place. In this lesson you will learn the two kinds of status and where each one applies along a Document's journey.
Processing and communication
Every piece of data passing through Supply Lens has to succeed at two different jobs:
- Processing. Turning data into something else: source data into a Document, or a Document into target data. This is about understanding and converting the data. In the app, lists show this as the translation status, and the help centre calls the values Document statuses.
- Communication. Actually moving data to or from another system over the network. This is about delivery. It is shown as the communication status on source data and target data.
A Document can be processed perfectly and still not be delivered, for example if the target system is unreachable. Equally, data can arrive safely (communication fine) but fail to process because a product is not recognised.
Where each status applies
| Record | Processing (Document) status | Communication status |
|---|---|---|
| Source data | Yes | Received (or Failed in rare cases) |
| Document | Yes | No |
| Target data | Yes (the column only appears when something is not Complete) | Pending, In progress, Sent, Failed, Cancelled |
Which one to look at
| You are asking... | Look at... |
|---|---|
| Did Supply Lens understand what arrived? | The Document's status |
| Is it waiting for someone to release it? | The Document's status (Ready) |
| Did it actually reach the other system? | The target data's communication status |
| Did the data reach Supply Lens at all? | Whether source data exists, and its communication status |
Two different problems, two different statuses
On Monday an order's Document shows Failed. That is a processing problem: Priya opens the
Document's logs to find out what Supply Lens could not understand.
On Tuesday an order's Document shows Complete, but Northgate says it never arrived. Priya
opens the target data for Northgate and sees the communication status Failed. That is a
delivery problem: the Document was fine, but sending it did not work, so she checks the target
data's logs and the Northgate Integration.
Recap
- Processing (translation) status says whether data was understood and converted; communication status says whether it was delivered.
- Documents have a processing status only; source and target data have both.
Completeon a Document does not by itself prove delivery: check the target data's communication status.- Choose the status that matches your question, and you will know where to look next.
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