there is a question for which no answer has been recorded at all, what now

No match in the file: three reasons, three next steps

That happens, and it usually comes down to one of three things. First: the question falls just outside the standard set — for instance, a question about a specific ISO 27001 control measure from Annex A, while the file only records the certificate itself and not the underlying measures individually. Second: the question belongs to a module that has not yet been completed, such as a question from the VSME baseline module on energy consumption while the chain file so far only contains the identity and scope fields. Third: the question is phrased in a customer-specific way — a custom definition of "critical supplier" or a custom threshold — and by definition that falls outside a shared file, because that is never tailored to one customer.

The system then leaves that field open, with a clear notification that there is no source. Nothing is ever automatically filled in to complete the row. The entrepreneur decides for themselves: add the answer manually for this one submission, or go back to the customer with a question about what exactly is meant. The latter is more often justified than it feels — questionnaires regularly quote a guideline out of context, and a question that refers to "the ten measures" without citing Article 21(2) of Directive (EU) 2022/2555, cannot be traced back to a concrete answer by the supplier. For recognizable gaps, filling in the chain file itself is the most sustainable route: think of whether the undertaking deploys AI systems or whether there is a continuity plan — two fields that appear in an increasing number of lists and which, once recorded, automatically carry forward with the next twenty questionnaires.

Why no suggestion appears without a source

The system never suggests an answer for which the chain file has no underlying fact — that is a built-in boundary, not a temporary limitation. For a CSRD question (Directive (EU) 2022/2464) that goes beyond what the VSME baseline module can handle, or for a NIS2 question that asks for a specific Annex A measure from ISO/IEC 27001 while only the certificate number is recorded, the field therefore remains empty until a fact is added.