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Guidelines For Drawing A Flow Chart

The document provides guidelines for creating effective flow charts, including recommended symbols to represent different elements. Standard symbols include rounded boxes for automatic events, rectangles/boxes for controlled steps, diamonds for decision points, and circles to connect to external processes. Additional tips suggest listing requirements logically, keeping the chart clear, using a consistent flow direction, and ensuring it has a logical start and finish that can be tested with sample data.

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Maedenne Jamne
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3K views

Guidelines For Drawing A Flow Chart

The document provides guidelines for creating effective flow charts, including recommended symbols to represent different elements. Standard symbols include rounded boxes for automatic events, rectangles/boxes for controlled steps, diamonds for decision points, and circles to connect to external processes. Additional tips suggest listing requirements logically, keeping the chart clear, using a consistent flow direction, and ensuring it has a logical start and finish that can be tested with sample data.

Uploaded by

Maedenne Jamne
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GUIDELINES FOR DRAWING A FLOW CHART Flow Charts are usually drawn using some standard symbols; however,

some special symbols can also be developed when required. Some standard flow chart symbols, which are frequently required for flowcharting many computer programs are shown in Fig.1

FLOW CHART DESIGN SYMBOL It is not strictly necessary to use boxes, circles, diamonds or other such symbols to construct a flow chart, but these do help to describe the types of events in the chart more clearly. Described below are a set of standard symbols which are applicable to most situations without being overly complex.

Rounded box - use it to represent an event which occurs automatically. Such an event will trigger a subsequent action, for example 'receive telephone call', or describe a new state of affairs. Rectangle or box - use it to represent an event which is controlled within the process. Typically this will be a step or action which is taken. In most flowcharts this will be the most frequently used symbol.

Diamond - use it to represent a decision point in the process. Typically, the statement in the symbol will require a 'yes' or 'no' response and branch to different parts of the flowchart accordingly. Circle - use it to represent a point at which the flowchart connects with another process. The name or reference for the other process should appear within the symbol.

FLOW CHARTING DESIGN GUIDELINES The following are some guidelines in flow charting: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. In drawing a proper flow chart, all necessary requirements should be listed out in logical order. The flowchart should be clear, neat and easy to follow. There should not be any room for ambiguity in understanding the flow chart. The usual direction of the flow of a procedure or system is from left to right or top to bottom. Only one flow line should come out from a process symbol. Only one flow line should enter a decision symbol, but two or three flow lines, one for each possible answer, should leave the decision symbol. Only one flow line is used in conjunction with terminal symbol. Write within standard flow chart symbols briefly. As necessary, you can use the annotation symbol to describe data or computational steps more clearly. If the flowchart becomes complex, it is better to use connector symbols to reduce the number of flow lines. Avoid the intersection of flow lines if you want to make it more effective and better way of communication. Ensure that the flowchart has a logical start and finish.

9.

10. It is useful to test the validity of the flowchart by passing through it with a simple test data.

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