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I1 Flowcharts (4posting)

The document is a tutorial on creating flowcharts using MS Visio, focusing on basic elements and construction steps. It outlines the standard flowchart elements, provides an example of a flowchart for determining even numbers, and details the process of drawing flowcharts in Visio. The tutorial includes steps for selecting templates, connecting shapes, and adding text to shapes.

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fiellen06
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9 views2 pages

I1 Flowcharts (4posting)

The document is a tutorial on creating flowcharts using MS Visio, focusing on basic elements and construction steps. It outlines the standard flowchart elements, provides an example of a flowchart for determining even numbers, and details the process of drawing flowcharts in Visio. The tutorial includes steps for selecting templates, connecting shapes, and adding text to shapes.

Uploaded by

fiellen06
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Flowchart Basics Tutorial: Using MS Visio ENGR 128

1. Basic Form Start Standard


Flowcharts are commonly used to diagram program Element Types

logic. An example flowchart is shown in Figure 1. This import x Start or End


chart is for a program that will insure the output is an
even number. If an odd number is read it is increased Input or
Is x an True
by one; an even number is left alone. This type of Output
even #?
chart is helpful for planning or explaining the logic
False
details of a program. In addition flow charts can also Executable
be used to document other sequential plans, e.g., a x=x+1
business process.
Conditional
output x (Branching)
This example uses four standard flow chart elements: 1)
Start/end, 2) Import/export, 3) executable statement End
and 4) conditional (branch). These standard elements
are listed on the right of Figure 1. Flowcharts for this Figure 1: Shows an example flowchart on the
course can be constructed from these four elements. left and identifies standard elements on the
right. This figure & example are adapted from
2. Constructing a Conditional Flowchart in Visio Peter So1 ocw.mit.edu), Massachusetts
Flowcharts can easily be drawing using MS Visio (Figure
How to check if a number is even:
1 was drawn this way). The following three steps are
• The rem(a, b) function determines the
adapted from a Microsoft beginners guide to Visio.2
remainder of the division a/b
Exercise: Use the steps listed below to reproduce the • therefore rem(x,2) == 0 will yield a logical 1
flowchart in Figure 1. if x is even and a logical 0 if it is odd.

Step 1: Choose and open a template


1. Start Visio.
2. Click the Flowchart category button (this initial screen sometimes varies).
3. Click Basic Flowchart, and then click Create.

Each template includes shapes related to the type of drawing, in collections called stencils. Stencils
are in the Shapes window beside the drawing page. For example, one of the stencils that opens with
the Basic Flowchart template is Basic Flowchart Shapes.

Before starting drawing set up the overall diagram theme (style). To do this go to the Design tab
and select one of the simple themes. Generally the dark text on a light background reproduce
better, are easier to read and use less printer ink. The theme identified by the icon at the beginning of
this paragraph is recommended.

Step 2: Drag and connect shapes


To create your diagram, drag shapes from the stencil onto the blank page and connect them to one
another. There are several ways to connect shapes, but for now use AutoConnect. For example, just
a few clicks connects a flowchart Start/End shape to a new Process shape.
1. Drag the Start/End shape from the Basic Flowchart
Shapes stencil onto the drawing page, and then Process
release the mouse button.
2. Hold the pointer over the shape so that the blue
AutoConnect arrows show (see Figure 2).
AutoConnect
3. Move your pointer on top of the blue arrow that arrow
points toward where you want to place the second Mini toolbar
shape. A mini toolbar appears that contains
shapes from the top of the stencil. Figure 2: Example of a Visio shape in
4. Click the square Process shape. The Process shape the drawing area. Hovering over a blue
is added to the diagram, automatically connected to AutoConect arrow brings up a mini-
the Start/End shape. toolbar

If the shape you want to add isn’t on the mini toolbar, you can drag the shape you want from the
Shapes window and drop it on a blue arrow. The new shape is connected to the first shape as if you
had clicked it on the mini toolbar.

Use the AutoConnect arrows also to connect two shapes already in your drawing. Drag an
AutoConnect arrow from one shape and drop it on another shape. You get an arrow from the first
shape to the second.

You can also connect two shapes already on the drawing using the connector tool that is
on the Tools panel of the Home tab (the icon at the beginning of this paragraph). Click on this icon then
click on the edge of the first shape, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to the second
shape you wish to connect, then release the mouse button. Click on the Pointer Tool above the
Connector Tool to return the mouse to usual functioning.

Step 3: Add text to shape


1. Click the shape and start typing. You don’t need to double-click to add text to a shape; when you
type, text is added to whichever shape is selected.
2. When you finish typing, click on a blank area of the drawing page or press ESC.

You can add text to almost any object – even connectors – by selecting it and typing.

The default text is 8 point, this is often too small. Consider increasing it to 10 or 11 point.

The text for the lines can be moved by clicking on the on the line. Once this is done handles (small dots)
will appear on the line. The yellow dot is for the text and can be dragged to a new location. The other
handles will rearrange the path of the line.

Footnotes
1 Peter So, course materials for 2.003J / 1.053J Dynamics and Control I, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare
(http://ocw.mit.edu), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Accessed February 2015.
2 MicroSoft, A beginner's guide to Visio, MicroSoft Office Support, 2015, https://support.office.com/en-
in/article/A-beginners-guide-to-Visio-bc1605de-d9f3-4c3a-970c-19876386047c, accessed February 2015.

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