Document Flow Chart (Flowchart)

Definition

A Document Flow Chart (or simply flowchart) is a diagrammatic representation showing the sequence of steps, decisions, and flow of documents/data through a process — used to model system logic or business processes during requirement analysis.

Standard Flowchart Symbols

Symbol	Meaning
⬭ (Oval/Terminator)	Start / End of process
▭ (Rectangle)	Process / Action step
◇ (Diamond)	Decision point (yes/no branching)
▱ (Parallelogram)	Input / Output
○ (Circle)	Connector (links to another part of the flowchart)
→ (Arrow)	Flow direction
▭ with double lines	Predefined process / subroutine

Purpose in Requirements Analysis

• Visualize how information/documents move through a business process
• Identify decision points and branching logic in a workflow
• Communicate process logic clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Serve as input for identifying functional requirements

Example: Simple Order Processing Flowchart

     [Start]
        │
        ▼
  [Receive Order]
        │
        ▼
   <In Stock?> ──No──▶ [Notify Customer: Out of Stock] ──▶ [End]
        │Yes
        ▼
  [Process Payment]
        │
        ▼
   <Payment OK?> ──No──▶ [Reject Order] ──▶ [End]
        │Yes
        ▼
   [Ship Order]
        │
        ▼
      [End]

Advantages

• Simple, intuitive, widely understood (even by non-technical stakeholders)
• Good for showing procedural/sequential logic

Limitations

• Becomes unreadable for very complex systems with many branches
• Doesn't show data structure/storage details (unlike DFDs)

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Exam tip: Be ready to draw a flowchart for a simple given scenario (e.g., login process, order processing) using the standard symbols — a frequent practical/diagram question.