- What does "No Matching Vendor Product" mean?
- What does "Suggest Link" mean?
- What does "Linking Not Available" mean?
What does "No Matching Vendor Product" mean?
On the Vendor Product Selection screen (Procurement > Buying Preferences), a food item can present with the No Matching Vendor Product text in the Generated Products column (screenshot below).
This indicates that there are currently no verified vendor products for the food item, and as such there is no selected product for that food item. For reasons why, and potential resolutions, see the following article: If a Food Item has the "No Matching Vendor Product" Label?
What does "Suggest Link" mean?
When you open a food item from the Vendor Product Selection screen, the Similar Vendor Products window appears listing the verified vendor products for that food item (see Viewing Verified Vendor Products for a Food Item for more information).
From the Similar Vendor Products window you can conduct a search for other vendor products. If any vendor product presents with the Suggest Link text (screenshot below), it indicates that the product is not currently linked to a food item.
By clicking Suggest Link, you can suggest that the vendor product be linked to a food item in the system. For more information and instructions, see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item.
What does "Linking Not Available" mean?
When you open a food item from the Vendor Product Selection screen, the Similar Vendor Products window appears listing the verified vendor products for that food item (see Viewing Verified Vendor Products for a Food Item for more information).
From the Similar Vendor Products window you can conduct a search for other vendor products. If any vendor product presents with the Linking Not Available text, it indicates that the product is currently linked to a food item, and as such cannot be suggested to be linked to another food item.
A vendor product that is linked to a food item can still be "soft linked" to another food item by clicking its heart icon. When you create a soft link, the price of the vendor product will update the costing on recipes and menus, but the nutrient data of that vendor product will not be used.
For more information on "soft links", see the following article: Facility Accounts: Favouring a Non-Verified Vendor Product ("Soft Link").