Document Chaining
Document chaining refers to the related-document-data that Liaison Athena provides at the top of received, draft, and sent EDI documents. This light yellow banner displays information about and, in some cases, links to, EDI documents that are related to the one you're currently viewing. The information that displays at the top of an EDI document varies depending on whether you're viewing a received document, sent document, or draft document, as discussed in the following sections.
Received Documents
When viewing a received EDI document, you will see acknowledgment status and, if one or more replies has been created for the document, a listing of reply documents, at the top of the received document, as shown in the next graphic.
You cannot link to the document's acknowledgment because, as explained in Functional Acknowledgments, Athena does not store the acknowledgments that are generated for received documents. However, if a reply exists for the document, you can click its description to open the reply in its draft form.
Sent Documents
When viewing a sent EDI document, you will see acknowledgment status and form information at the top of the document, as shown in the next graphic. The originating document is applicable if your sent document was created by replying to an existing EDI document (e.g. creating a turnaround invoice from a received purchase order).
If the acknowledgment still exists in your database, you should be able to link to it by clicking its description. In addition, you can also link to the form (i.e. drafts version) that was used to originally create your sent document.
Draft Documents
When viewing the draft of an EDI document that you have created (i.e. when viewing the document in its originating form), you will see information and links for the originating document as well as the sent version, if they exist. The originating document is applicable if your draft was created by replying to an existing EDI document (e.g. creating a turnaround invoice from a received purchase order). The sent version of the draft document is applicable if you actually sent the document. 