A flowchart (also spelled flow-chart and flow chart) is a schematic representation of an algorithm or a process.

A flowchart is one of
the seven basic tools of quality control, which also includes the histogram, Pareto chart, check sheet, control chart, cause-and-effect
diagram, and scatter diagram (see Quality Management Glossary). They are commonly used in business/economic presentations to
help the audience visualize the content better, or to find flaws in the process.

Symbols

A typical flowchart from older Computer Science textbooks may have the following kinds of symbols:

• Start and end symbols, represented as lozenges, ovals or rounded rectangles, usually containing the word "Start" or "End",
or another phrase signaling the start or end of a process, such as "submit enquiry" or "receive product".
• Arrows, showing what's called "flow of control" in computer science. An arrow coming from one symbol and ending at
another symbol represents that control passes to the symbol the arrow points to.
• Processing steps, represented as rectangles. Examples: "Add 1 to X"; "replace identified part"; "save changes" or similar.
• Input/Output, represented as a parallelogram. Examples: Get X from the user; display X.
• Conditional (or decision), represented as a diamond (rhombus). These typically contain a Yes/No question or True/False
test. This symbol is unique in that it has two arrows coming out of it, usually from the bottom point and right point, one
corresponding to Yes or True, and one corresponding to No or False. The arrows should always be labeled. More than two
arrows can be used, but this is normally a clear indicator that a complex decision is being taken, in which case it may need
to be broken-down further, or replaced with the "pre-defined process" symbol.
• A number of other symbols that have less universal currency, such as:
o A Document represented as a rectangle with a wavy base;
o A Manual input represented by rectangle, with the top irregularly sloping up from left to right. An example
would be to signify data-entry from a form;
o A Manual operation represented by a trapezoid with the longest parallel side at the top, to represent an
operation or adjustment to process that can only be made manually.
o A Data File represented by a cylinder
• Note: All process symbols within a flowchart should be numbered. Normally a number is inserted inside the top of the
shape to indicate which step the process is within the flowchart.

Flowcharts may contain other symbols, such as connectors, usually represented as circles, to represent converging paths in the flow
chart. Circles will have more than one arrow coming into them but only one going out. Some flow charts may just have an arrow point
to another arrow instead. These are useful to represent an iterative process (what in Computer Science is called a loop). A loop may,
for example, consist of a connector where control first enters, processing steps, a conditional with one arrow exiting the loop, and one
going back to the connector. Off-page connectors are often used to signify a connection to a (part of another) process held on another
sheet or screen. It is important to remember to keep these connections logical in order. All processes should flow from top to bottom
and left to right.

A flowchart is described as "cross-functional" when the page is divided into different "lanes" describing the control of different
organizational units. A symbol appearing in a particular "lane" is within the control of that organizational unit. This technique allows
the analyst to locate the responsibility for performing an action or making a decision correctly, allowing the relationship between
different organizational units with responsibility over a single process.

Software

[edit] Manual

[[ There are various packages for manually and automatically creating flowcharts, according to different standards. The most common
is UML, for which there are abundant packages for various platforms. See UML article for a list. The creation of simple flowcharts on
a computer is fairly easy with any vector-based drawing program. Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org Draw, Umbrello, EDraw
Flowchart Software, yEd, Inkscape, Dia, ConceptDraw, and SmartDraw are all widely used for this purpose.]] When in
OpenOffice.org, enable the Drawing toolbar which has a flow-out menu for Flowcharts since version 2.0, which can do roughly
the same as Word.

When in OpenOffice.org Draw, enable the Flowchart palette and click a shape to add it in. Double-clicking a shape will add text to it
within appropriate boundaries. Connections can be automatically made between shapes using Connectors and Glue Points - click on
the Connector arrow to see a selection of them before dragging from a Glue Point on a shape to another. Draw will maintain the link
and automatically redraw the connector if you resize or move any shape.

When in Microsoft Visio, select Basic Flowchart from the Flowchart category for the most common symbols.
Some flowchart tools that are written in Java include JGraph, JHotDraw and JLink. The first two, being more established with
thousands of downloads, enable manual creation of flowcharts in them as well as coding for automatic flowchart generation. The third
aims to achieve manual and automatic creation of charts with a symbol set based on IBM standards. The advantage of these programs
being that they are written in Java, which enables flow charts to be created on multiple operating systems.

[edit] Automatic

Many software packages exist that can create flowcharts automatically, either directly from source code, or from a flowchart
description language:

Examples, Graph::Easy, a Perl package, takes a textual description of the graph, and turns it into various output formats like HTML,
ASCII or SVG. The example graph at the top of the page and listed below would be described like the text shown below. The
automatically generated SVG output is shown on the right:

A simple flowchart, created automatically.

graph { flow: south; }
node.start { shape: rounded; fill: #ffbfc9; }
node.question { shape: rounded; fill: #ffff8a; }
node.action { shape: rounded; fill: #8bef91; }

[ Lamp doesn't work ] { class: start }

--> [ Lamp\n plugged in? ] { class: question; }
-- No --> [ Plug in lamp ] { class: action; }

[ Lamp\n plugged in? ]

--> [ Bulb\n burned out? ] { class: question; }
-- Yes --> [ Replace bulb ] { class: action; }

[ Lamp\n Fuse blown? ]

--> [ Fuse\n unserviceable?? ] { class: question; }
-- Yes --> [ Replace Fuse] { class: action; }

[ Bulb\n burned out? ]

-- No --> [ Buy new lamp ] { class: action; }

There exist also various MediaWiki Extensions to incorporate flowchart descriptions directly into wiki articles. This is then
automatically turned into the desired output format.
Examples

A simple flowchart for computing factorial N (N!)

A flowchart for computing factorial N (N!) Where N! = 1 * 2 * 3 * …… N. This flowchart would be difficult to program directly into
a computer programming language since most programming languages branch on "yes" or "true" and continue on "no" or "false".
Further, the flowchart represents "a loop and a half" — a situation discussed in introductory programming textbooks that requires
either a duplication of a component (to be both inside and outside the loop) or the component to be put inside a branch in the loop.

Since computer programming languages do not contain all of the constructs that can be created by the drawing of flowcharts, they do
not often help new programmers learn the concepts of logical flow and program structure. To try writing flowcharts for computer
programs, an on-line applet for iconic programming is available that limits the flowchart components and connections to those that can
be directly converted into any programming language. (Note: click on the yellow square to begin.)
A data flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an information system. A data flow diagram
can also be used for the visualization of data processing (structured design). It is common practice for a designer to draw a context-
level DFD first which shows the interaction between the system and outside entities. This context-level DFD is then "exploded" to
show more detail of the system being modelled.

Azna, the original developer of structured design, based on Martin and Estrin's "data flow
graph" model of computation. Data flow diagrams (DFDs) are one of the three
[citation needed]

essential perspectives of SSADM. The sponsor of a project and the end users will need to be
briefed and consulted throughout all stages of a systems evolution. With a dataflow
diagram, users are able to visualize how the system will operate, what the system will
accomplish and how the system will be implemented. Old system dataflow diagrams can
be drawn up and compared with the new systems dataflow diagrams to draw comparisons
to implement a more efficient system. Dataflow diagrams can be used to provide the end
user with a physical idea of where the data they input, ultimately has an effect upon the
structure of the whole system from order to dispatch to restock how any system is
developed can be determined through a dataflow diagram.

Components

A data flow diagram illustrates the processes, data stores, and external entities in a business or other system and the connecting data
flows.

Data flow diagram example

The four components of a data flow diagram (DFD) are:

Data flow diagram notation

External Entities/Terminators
are outside of the system being modelled. Terminators (also referred to as sources or sinks, depending on whether data
flows from or into them) represent where information comes from or where it goes. In designing a system, we have no idea
about what these terminators do or how they do it.
Processes
modify the inputs in the process of generating the outputs
Data Stores
represent a place in the process where data comes to rest. A DFD does not say anything about the relative timing of the
processes, so a data store might be a place to accumulate data over a year for the annual accounting process.
Data Flows
are how data moves between terminators, processes, and data stores (those that cross the system boundary are known as IO
or Input Output Descriptions).

Every page in a DFD should contain fewer than 10 components. If a process has more than 10 components, then one or more
components (typically a process) should be combined into one and another DFD be generated that describes that component in more
detail. Each component should be numbered, as should each subcomponent, and so on. So for example, a top level DFD would have
components 1 2 3 4 5, the subcomponent DFD of component 3 would have components 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4; and the
subsubcomponent DFD of component 3.2 would have components 3.2.1, 3.2.2, and 3.2.3. DFD can use to in presenting project. This
is published by M. Talha Umair

[edit] Data store

A data store 'symbolizes permanent information that is used by the system and must therefore be stored if the system is to function
properly (i.e. Information held in a database)'