The present invention is directed to a method for a creating an active
document that encapsulates a transaction and the transaction's current
status. The active document includes a first set of data fields, where
the data fields represent attributes of a parent transaction and include
a sub-identifier field; and a first set of metadata, where the first set
of metadata populates the first set of data fields and describes the
attributes represented by the first set of data fields, the
sub-identifier filed including metadata from the first set of metadata
that identifies a secondary transaction, linking data generated by the
secondary transaction to the active document.