Inc. This Appendix to the document How to Write a Software Specification presents to the client uninitiated in design methods a few useful concepts. The purpose behind these methods is to eliminate unanticipated situations. They frequently show the flow of data and documents.
Emphasis is on procedures and sequence.
The following symbols are widely used. The chart below represents an on-line payment input with update of client file, recording inputs to a payment journal, and printing a report of the activity. More complicated scenarios can be depicted with many process boxes, often drawn one below another. Tie each process box to the next in sequence with an arrow. For a more compact representation drop the disk and report symbols, but leave the text and appropriate arrows.