What is a flowchart?
• A chart showing a flow of logic involved in solving a problem.
• A visual or graphical representation of an algorithm
• Can be referred as the blueprint of an algorithm
Classifications of flowcharts
• Program flowcharts
o A diagram which uses a set of standard graphic symbols to represent sequence of instructions that will
be fed to the computer
o Made for a single program
• System flowcharts
o Instead of Instructions it display how data flows in a system
o Design for the entire system, each symbol represents a complete process
Symbols for system/program flowcharts (General)
Terminator, terminal point (Oval) • Start and Stop
• Shows the start and stop points in a process
Data or I/O (Parellelogram) • Input and output
• Indicates inputs to and outputs from a process
Process (Rectangle) • Processing
• Shows a process or action step
Decision (Rhombus, diamond) • Decision making
Rhombus – mathematical term • Indicates a question that answers YES/NO
Flow line (Arrows) • Connections
• Show the direction that the process flows
On-page Connectors (Circle) • Continuation
• Shows jump to another point in the process
• On-page
• Labeled with capital letters
Off-page Connector Symbol • Continuation
• Show jump to an off page process
• Labeled with capital letters
Summing junction symbol • Sums the input of different converging paths
Logical OR • Logical OR symbol, the process flow may continue
to two or more paths
Activity:
1. Laboratory test request procedure
1. Before admitting a patient, the nurse will ask for a hospital ID otherwise the patient is required to fill out a
personal information sheet before paying the necessary fees.
2. A receipt shall serve as the patient’s admission to see the doctor
3. You will proceed to the waiting area until a doctor is available for consultation/checkup
4. The doctor will conduct an initial checkup and provide a lab endorsement slip
5. Patients stay at the waiting room of the medical laboratory until a Phlebotomist is available
6. The Phlebotomist will draw blood/perform venipuncture to take a blood sample
7. The screening will take 3 hours to finish
8. The patient must take the lab test (Logical OR) result at the doctor’s clinic for interpretation
9. Requirements: at least 3 decisions, 1 logical OR, and utilize the use of the I/O notation (parallelogram)
