Choose the right flowchart symbol

Use for a processing action that changes information, calculates a value or performs a defined operation. Write a verb and its object.

Example: “Calculate invoice total”. Choose Predefined Process when the detailed routine is defined elsewhere.

Use for an explanation, assumption or comment beside the flow. Connect it to the relevant step with a clearly labelled leader or an appropriate connection; it is not another processing step.

Example: “Prices exclude VAT”, attached to the calculation.

Use for information entering or leaving a process when the particular medium is unimportant or unspecified.

Example: “Receive customer data”. Choose Manual Input for human entry, Document for a paper/report record or a specific storage symbol when the medium matters.

Use to continue the flow at another position in the same chart, avoiding a long or tangled connection. Give both ends a matching, unique label.

Example: an exit marked “A” and a corresponding entry marked “A”. A connector does not mean start or finish.

Use to continue onto another page or diagram. Show the destination and matching label so the reader can find the next step.

Example: “B - Dispatch diagram”, paired with entry “B” there. This label documents a continuation; the shape does not automatically create a link or navigate to another diagram.

Use when a condition selects one of several possible paths. Put the question in the object and the answers on the outgoing connections.

Example: “Payment approved?” with “Yes” and “No” branches. Testing a condition is different from setting up the values used by that test.

Use for initialization or a control/instruction change before subsequent processing. In the historical convention this includes setting switches, changing an index or initializing a routine.

Example: “Set retry count to zero”. Use Decision for “Retries remaining?”; preparation changes the state, while a decision chooses a path.

Use for a named operation or sequence whose detailed steps are defined in another routine or flowchart. Tell the reader where that definition is.

Example: “Validate address - see Address rules”. A normal Process describes the action here; Predefined Process deliberately refers to another definition.

Use for a boundary or terminal point: commonly start or end. IBM also used this shape for halt, delay, interrupt or an exit from a closed routine; label that meaning explicitly.

Example: “Start: order received” or “End: confirmation sent”. Do not rely on the outline alone to distinguish a temporary halt from completion.

Use to mark the beginning or end of simultaneous operations. Connect the branches clearly and state whether the following work needs every branch or a different condition.

Example: “Prepare equipment” and “Check site access” run concurrently before “Arrange installation”. This is flowchart notation: it does not create Process Simulator fork/join semantics, capacity or timing. Configure those separately in a simulation model.

Use for information supplied directly by a person through an online keyboard, switch or pushbutton.

Example: “Enter delivery address”. The input is the point: use Manual Operation for human work performed outside the computer rather than data entry.

Use for an offline human operation. The IBM sleeve describes human processing without mechanical aid; label the actual task rather than using it for every task involving a person.

Example: “Check the signed paper form”. Entering the resulting information into a system is a separate Manual Input step.

Use when the operation of a key-driven device matters: historically punching, verifying or typing. This IBM-specific convention describes the device operation, while Manual Input describes information entering an online system.

Example: “Verify punched-card entries” in a historical data-entry workflow. For an ordinary web form, Manual Input is usually clearer.

Use for equipment operating outside the direct control of the central processing unit. It is not a general synonym for an optional task or a human task.

Example: “Run standalone card sorter” before computer input, where that equipment distinction matters.

Use for information presented to a reader or operator. A current example may use a screen; IBM’s historical definition also included console printers and plotters.

Example: “Show validation errors”. Choose Document when the lasting paper/report record is the important output.

Use to identify information transmitted over a telecommunications link. Connect and label its endpoints and direction; the zigzag shape identifies the medium, not a processing action.

Example: “Transmit order to remote warehouse”. Use an ordinary graph connection for direction; the glyph does not open a network connection.

Use to combine two or more sets into one set. A merge is not a decision and does not by itself promise that records are sorted.

Example: “Combine Monday and Tuesday orders into one batch”.

Use to remove or select particular items or subsets from a set. State the selection rule and where the selected and remaining records go.

Example: “Extract orders requiring manual review” from the complete order batch.

Use for merging and extracting that produces multiple sets from multiple input sets. Explain the grouping or matching rule instead of using it for any simple join.

Example: “Combine regional order batches and separate them into delivery-route batches”. Use Merge if the result is simply one combined set.

Use to arrange a set of items into a specified sequence. The completed symbol has a divider across the diamond.

Example: “Sort orders by delivery date, then order number”. Sorting changes the sequence; extracting selects items, and merging combines sets.

Use for information on a storage medium available to the running system when the specific medium is not the focus. IBM included tape, drum and disk under this general online input/output convention.

Example: “Order records available to the program”. It is a broad online-storage symbol, not specifically a relational database symbol.

Use when disk storage specifically matters, rather than using the shape for every saved value.

Example: “Orders on magnetic disk” in a historical system diagram. In a modern workflow, a label such as “Order database” may be a useful documented analogy; the historical name does not define the database technology.

Use for the particular historical magnetic-drum storage medium when the hardware distinction matters.

Example: “Drum-resident working file” when explaining a legacy system. Use Online Storage or a clearly labelled contemporary representation when that hardware distinction is irrelevant.

Use for information on magnetic tape. The completed symbol includes the short line at the circle’s bottom right; a bare large circle is only its drawing aperture.

Example: “Nightly archive on magnetic tape”. Distinguish it from punched paper tape and from a small continuation connector.

Use for the historical core-memory medium. Its internal top and left lines distinguish the completed form from a plain process rectangle.

Example: “Working totals in core memory” in a historical program explanation. It is not a generic name for a core business function; a modern memory analogy needs an explicit label or note.

Use for stored information that is offline, regardless of its recording medium. The stripe distinguishes it from Merge.

Example: “Archive held offline until requested”. Offline Storage describes the storage’s availability; Magnetic Tape describes a medium, which can be used online or offline.

Use when a document or paper/report record is the important input or output. Name the record rather than the act of preparing it.

Example: “Printed order confirmation”. Show “Prepare confirmation” as a Process if that action also needs a separate step.

Use for input or output on punched-card media, including the varieties represented by the historical convention.

Example: “Customer detail card”. Use the dedicated collection forms when a deck or file is the distinction you want to show.

Use for a collection of punched cards. The perspective stack makes the collection visible.

Example: “Today’s input card deck”. A deck emphasizes a collection of physical cards; Card File emphasizes related punched-card records.

Use for a collection of related punched-card records. This is a historical card-record convention, not a general modern computer-file icon.

Example: “Customer master card file”.

Use for information recorded on punched paper tape. It is distinct from magnetic tape; the revised convention inverted the earlier Perforated Tape outline.

Example: “Machine instructions on punched tape” in a historical equipment workflow.

Use for proof/adding-machine tape or other batch-control information in the IBM-specific convention. Despite the name, this is not a general network-transmission symbol.

Example: “Adding-machine tape with batch control totals”. Use Communication Link for information sent over telecommunications.

The bare Sort aperture lacks the horizontal divider. Use it when reproducing the physical stencil or discussing how the completed symbol is constructed. For “Sort by date”, choose Sort.

The bare large circle lacks Magnetic Tape’s bottom-right line. Use it for stencil construction/reference. In the revised convention it does not acquire a separate processing meaning; use completed Magnetic Tape, or the small Connector for continuation.

An upward arrowhead specimen. It illustrates a direction; it is not a connected workflow edge.

A downward arrowhead specimen. Use a real connection with the correct direction to relate two objects.

A leftward arrowhead specimen. A separately placed arrowhead does not establish an endpoint or relationship.

A rightward arrowhead specimen. Use it for stencil illustration; set direction on a graph connection for an actual flow.

The original I/O trapezoid shows information entering or leaving processing. The revised convention gives I/O the parallelogram and uses this trapezoid for Manual Operation.

Example: reproduce an older “Read customer details” I/O step. For a new revised flowchart, choose Input / Output.

The original hexagon denotes a routine defined elsewhere. In the revised convention the hexagon means Preparation, while Predefined Process becomes the rectangle with two internal vertical lines.

Example: retain an old “Payroll routine” reference while transcribing a historical chart.

The original pointed-right form denotes program modification. The revised convention drops this separate name and form and uses Preparation for the function.

Example: reproduce “Set processing switch” in an original chart; use Preparation in a new revised chart.

The original parallelogram denotes clerical work. The revised convention calls this Manual Operation and uses a trapezoid; the parallelogram instead becomes Input / Output.

Example: preserve an old “Check paper records” step without relabelling it as revised I/O.

The original paper-tape form. The revised convention changes the name to Punched Tape and inverts the wave orientation.

Example: reproduce the media in an original machine-input chart; use Punched Tape in a revised chart.