<s>
A	O
flowchart	B-Language
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
diagram	O
that	O
represents	O
a	O
workflow	B-Operating_System
or	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
flowchart	B-Language
can	O
also	O
be	O
defined	O
as	O
a	O
diagrammatic	O
representation	O
of	O
an	O
algorithm	O
,	O
a	O
step-by-step	O
approach	O
to	O
solving	O
a	O
task	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
flowchart	B-Language
shows	O
the	O
steps	O
as	O
boxes	O
of	O
various	O
kinds	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
order	O
by	O
connecting	O
the	O
boxes	O
with	O
arrows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flowcharts	B-Language
are	O
used	O
in	O
analyzing	O
,	O
designing	O
,	O
documenting	O
or	O
managing	O
a	O
process	O
or	O
program	O
in	O
various	O
fields	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flowcharts	B-Language
are	O
used	O
to	O
design	O
and	O
document	O
simple	O
processes	O
or	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flowcharts	B-Language
typically	O
use	O
the	O
following	O
main	O
symbols	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
flowchart	B-Language
is	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
cross-functional	O
"	O
when	O
the	O
chart	O
is	O
divided	O
into	O
different	O
vertical	O
or	O
horizontal	O
parts	O
,	O
to	O
describe	O
the	O
control	O
of	O
different	O
organizational	O
units	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
cross-functional	O
flowchart	B-Language
allows	O
the	O
author	O
to	O
correctly	O
locate	O
the	O
responsibility	O
for	O
performing	O
an	O
action	O
or	O
making	O
a	O
decision	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
show	O
the	O
responsibility	O
of	O
each	O
organizational	O
unit	O
for	O
different	O
parts	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flowcharts	B-Language
represent	O
certain	O
aspects	O
of	O
processes	O
and	O
are	O
usually	O
complemented	O
by	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
diagram	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
Kaoru	O
Ishikawa	O
defined	O
the	O
flowchart	B-Language
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
seven	O
basic	O
tools	O
of	O
quality	O
control	O
,	O
next	O
to	O
the	O
histogram	B-Algorithm
,	O
Pareto	O
chart	O
,	O
check	B-Application
sheet	I-Application
,	O
control	B-General_Concept
chart	I-General_Concept
,	O
cause-and-effect	O
diagram	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
scatter	B-Application
diagram	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
in	O
UML	B-Language
,	O
a	O
standard	O
concept-modeling	O
notation	O
used	O
in	O
software	O
development	O
,	O
the	O
activity	O
diagram	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
flowchart	B-Language
,	O
is	O
just	O
one	O
of	O
many	O
different	O
diagram	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nassi-Shneiderman	B-Application
diagrams	I-Application
and	O
Drakon-charts	B-Language
are	O
an	O
alternative	O
notation	O
for	O
process	O
flow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
alternative	O
names	O
include	O
:	O
flow	B-Language
chart	I-Language
,	O
process	O
flowchart	B-Language
,	O
functional	O
flowchart	B-Language
,	O
process	O
map	O
,	O
process	B-Application
chart	I-Application
,	O
functional	O
process	B-Application
chart	I-Application
,	O
business	O
process	O
model	O
,	O
process	O
model	O
,	O
process	O
flow	B-Application
diagram	I-Application
,	O
work	B-Operating_System
flow	B-Application
diagram	I-Application
,	O
business	O
flow	B-Application
diagram	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
terms	O
"	O
flowchart	B-Language
"	O
and	O
"	O
flow	B-Language
chart	I-Language
"	O
are	O
used	O
interchangeably	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
underlying	O
graph	O
structure	O
of	O
a	O
flowchart	B-Language
is	O
a	O
flow	O
graph	O
,	O
which	O
abstracts	O
away	O
node	O
types	O
,	O
their	O
contents	O
and	O
other	O
ancillary	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
structured	O
method	O
for	O
documenting	O
process	O
flow	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
flow	B-Application
process	I-Application
chart	I-Application
"	O
,	O
was	O
introduced	O
by	O
Frank	O
and	O
Lillian	O
Gilbreth	O
in	O
the	O
presentation	O
"	O
Process	B-Application
Charts	I-Application
:	O
First	O
Steps	O
in	O
Finding	O
the	O
One	O
Best	O
Way	O
to	O
do	O
Work	O
"	O
,	O
to	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
American	O
Society	O
of	O
Mechanical	O
Engineers	O
(	O
ASME	O
)	O
in	O
1921	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ben	O
S	O
.	O
Graham	O
,	O
another	O
1944	O
graduate	O
,	O
Director	O
of	O
Formcraft	O
Engineering	O
at	O
Standard	O
Register	O
Industrial	O
,	O
applied	O
the	O
flow	B-Application
process	I-Application
chart	I-Application
to	O
information	O
processing	O
with	O
his	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
multi-flow	O
process	O
chart	O
,	O
to	O
present	O
multiple	O
documents	O
and	O
their	O
relationships	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Douglas	O
Hartree	O
in	O
1949	O
explained	O
that	O
Herman	O
Goldstine	O
and	O
John	O
von	O
Neumann	O
had	O
developed	O
a	O
flowchart	B-Language
(	O
originally	O
,	O
diagram	O
)	O
to	O
plan	O
computer	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
programming	O
flowcharts	B-Language
of	O
Goldstine	O
and	O
von	O
Neumann	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
their	O
unpublished	O
report	O
,	O
"	O
Planning	O
and	O
coding	O
of	O
problems	O
for	O
an	O
electronic	O
computing	O
instrument	O
,	O
Part	O
II	O
,	O
Volume	O
1	O
"	O
(	O
1947	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
reproduced	O
in	O
von	O
Neumann	O
's	O
collected	O
works	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
flowchart	B-Language
became	O
a	O
popular	O
tool	O
for	O
describing	O
computer	O
algorithms	O
,	O
but	O
its	O
popularity	O
decreased	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
when	O
interactive	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
and	O
third-generation	O
programming	O
languages	O
became	O
common	O
tools	O
for	O
computer	B-General_Concept
programming	I-General_Concept
,	O
since	O
algorithms	O
can	O
be	O
expressed	O
more	O
concisely	O
as	O
source	O
code	O
in	O
such	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Often	O
pseudo-code	B-Language
is	O
used	O
,	O
which	O
uses	O
the	O
common	O
idioms	O
of	O
such	O
languages	O
without	O
strictly	O
adhering	O
to	O
the	O
details	O
of	O
a	O
particular	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
21st	O
century	O
,	O
flowcharts	B-Language
were	O
still	O
used	O
for	O
describing	O
computer	O
algorithms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modern	O
techniques	O
such	O
as	O
UML	B-Language
activity	O
diagrams	O
and	O
Drakon-charts	B-Language
can	O
be	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
extensions	O
of	O
the	O
flowchart	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sterneckert	O
(	O
2003	O
)	O
suggested	O
that	O
flowcharts	B-Language
can	O
be	O
modeled	O
from	O
the	O
perspective	O
of	O
different	O
user	O
groups	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
managers	O
,	O
system	O
analysts	O
and	O
clerks	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
there	O
are	O
four	O
general	O
types	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Notice	O
that	O
every	O
type	O
of	O
flowchart	B-Language
focuses	O
on	O
some	O
kind	O
of	O
control	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
on	O
the	O
particular	O
flow	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Andrew	O
Veronis	O
(	O
1978	O
)	O
named	O
three	O
basic	O
types	O
of	O
flowcharts	B-Language
:	O
the	O
system	O
flowchart	B-Language
,	O
the	O
general	O
flowchart	B-Language
,	O
and	O
the	O
detailed	O
flowchart	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
same	O
year	O
Marilyn	O
Bohl	O
(	O
1978	O
)	O
stated	O
"	O
in	O
practice	O
,	O
two	O
kinds	O
of	O
flowcharts	B-Language
are	O
used	O
in	O
solution	O
planning	O
:	O
system	O
flowcharts	B-Language
and	O
program	B-Language
flowcharts	I-Language
...	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
recently	O
,	O
Mark	O
A	O
.	O
Fryman	O
(	O
2001	O
)	O
identified	O
more	O
differences	O
:	O
"	O
Decision	O
flowcharts	B-Language
,	O
logic	O
flowcharts	B-Language
,	O
systems	O
flowcharts	B-Language
,	O
product	O
flowcharts	B-Language
,	O
and	O
process	O
flowcharts	B-Language
are	O
just	O
a	O
few	O
of	O
the	O
different	O
types	O
of	O
flowcharts	B-Language
that	O
are	O
used	O
in	O
business	O
and	O
government	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
many	O
diagram	O
techniques	O
are	O
similar	O
to	O
flowcharts	B-Language
but	O
carry	O
a	O
different	O
name	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
UML	B-Language
activity	O
diagrams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
American	O
National	O
Standards	O
Institute	O
(	O
ANSI	O
)	O
set	O
standards	O
for	O
flowcharts	B-Language
and	O
their	O
symbols	O
in	O
the	O
1960s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
,	O
flowcharts	B-Language
flow	O
from	O
top	O
to	O
bottom	O
and	O
left	O
to	O
right	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Represented	O
as	O
an	O
open	O
rectangle	O
with	O
a	O
dashed	O
or	O
solid	O
line	O
connecting	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
corresponding	O
symbol	O
in	O
the	O
flowchart	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
50px	O
On-page	O
Connector	O
Pairs	O
of	O
labeled	O
connectors	O
replace	O
long	O
or	O
confusing	O
lines	O
on	O
a	O
flowchart	B-Language
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Represented	O
as	O
a	O
home	O
plate-shaped	O
pentagon	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
ShapeNameDescription54x54px|Flowchart	O
databaseData	O
File	O
or	O
DatabaseData	O
represented	O
by	O
a	O
cylinder	O
symbolizing	O
a	O
disk	O
drive.64x64px	O
|Flowchart	O
DocumentDocumentSingle	O
documents	O
represented	O
as	O
a	O
rectangle	O
with	O
a	O
wavy	O
base.64x64px	O
|Flowchart	O
Document	O
multipleMultiple	O
documents	O
represented	O
as	O
a	O
stack	O
of	O
rectangles	O
with	O
wavy	O
bases.67x67px	O
|Flowchar	O
Manual	O
inputManual	O
operationRepresented	O
by	O
a	O
trapezoid	O
with	O
the	O
longest	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
side	O
at	O
the	O
top	O
,	O
to	O
represent	O
an	O
operation	O
or	O
adjustment	O
to	O
process	O
that	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
made	O
manually.66x66px	O
|Flowchart	O
manual	O
inputManual	O
inputRepresented	O
by	O
quadrilateral	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
top	O
irregularly	O
sloping	O
up	O
from	O
left	O
to	O
right	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
side	O
view	O
of	O
a	O
keyboard.70x70px	O
|Flowchart	O
PreparationPreparation	O
or	O
InitializationRepresented	O
by	O
an	O
elongated	O
hexagon	B-Application
,	O
originally	O
used	O
for	O
steps	O
like	O
setting	O
a	O
switch	O
or	O
initializing	O
a	O
routine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
and	O
concurrent	B-Architecture
processing	O
the	O
Parallel	B-Operating_System
Mode	I-Operating_System
horizontal	O
lines	O
or	O
a	O
horizontal	O
bar	O
indicate	O
the	O
start	O
or	O
end	O
of	O
a	O
section	O
of	O
processes	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
independently	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
a	O
fork	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
process	O
creates	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
additional	O
processes	O
,	O
indicated	O
by	O
a	O
bar	O
with	O
one	O
incoming	O
path	O
and	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
outgoing	O
paths	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
drawing	O
program	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
flowchart	B-Language
diagrams	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
will	O
have	O
no	O
underlying	O
data	O
model	O
to	O
share	O
data	O
with	O
databases	O
or	O
other	O
programs	O
such	O
as	O
project	O
management	O
systems	O
or	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
software	O
packages	O
exist	O
that	O
can	O
create	O
flowcharts	B-Language
automatically	O
,	O
either	O
directly	O
from	O
a	O
programming	O
language	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
or	O
from	O
a	O
flowchart	B-Language
description	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
applications	O
and	O
visual	B-Language
programming	I-Language
languages	I-Language
that	O
use	O
flowcharts	B-Language
to	O
represent	O
and	O
execute	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
