For the purposes of this discussion a "transaction" is a change in data (usually multiple changes) that must be verified and reversed if not completely successful. For instance, when you generate a set of invoices and are asked "Did all documents print successfully?" this is important because you are about to mark all the order items on that invoice as having been "invoiced."  An invoice transaction is "complete" when:

1. All the documents are printed (or recorded in PDF files), and... 
2. Any related data is updated (such as creating the invoice record and recording the date), and...
3. All the items on the invoice (that is, the items that create the total amount of the invoice) are marked as "invoiced" and linked to the invoice created in #2.

If anything goes wrong and the documents are printed but some of the items are not marked, then it becomes possible to invoice those items again (incorrectly). 

You can export many kinds of data from FF&EZ for simple reporting purposes and you can export reporting data many times. However if you plan to export data that will be imported into another system to create transactions (such as "new" orders or invoices), then a special kind of export process is needed—one that guarantees that the same data is not exported more than one time. 

There are three ways to export transaction data from FF&EZ. 

The first is the optional "Order Export Option" plug-in. This allows an FF&EZ-Design system to export room contents (objects and their components) in the form of ordering data and (here is the transaction) mark those room usages of objects as having been "ordered" so that they cannot be accidentally ordered again. This option is an extra-cost item that is meant for use with 3rd party purchasing systems.

The other ways to export transactions are a part of the regular Design/Purchasing system. They are included in the normal Export command on the Invoice List and the Check Request List screens and require that you select the "Export new data as transactions" option:

To export transactions, select the "Export new data as transactions" option under the content options. This option is only valid for the "Document item detail" option to avoid losing the ability to export the detailed transactions. That is, if you only need summary transactions, your import process can summarize the detailed data using the FF&EZ document number embedded in the data. However, once the data is exported as a transaction, it cannot be exported again as transactions (but it can be exported as a "regular" general purpose export).

In addition to the transaction option, you can set a date range for which documents are exported. In all cases, only data that has not been previously exported will be processed.