Text-To-Flowchart Wizard

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Overview

The Text-To-Flowchart Wizard is a tool that transforms a sheet of text into a flowchart in just a few steps. With it, you can enter all the process steps into worksheet cells and the rough pattern that you want the final flowchart to be in. The Text-To-Flowchart Wizard will load all the text into a form that lets you assign symbol types, formatting, and flow line routings to each process step. It will then generate a flowchart from that information. You may need to make some minor adjustments to the flowchart layout and flow lines routings, but overall it cuts the time to create a flowchart considerably.

Note: This feature is available in Standard Edition only.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1: Layout out the text for the flowchart on the sheet. Picture 1 below shows a flowchart in the making, with the text for the process steps entered into cells in the approximate position that the final flowchart symbols will be. Note

Picture 1 - Sample Flowchart Text

Step 2: Click the Text-To-Flowchart Wizard button on the toolbar. This will open the Text-To-Flowchart Wizard window.

The FlowBreeze toolbar for Excel 2000-2003. The equivalent Excel 2007 button has the caption "Text-To-Flowchart Wizard".

Step 3: Edit the symbol types, styles, and flow line destinations in the Text-To-Flowchart Wizard window shown in Picture 2. The Symbol and Style columns are both drop down fields, allowing you to quickly change the flowchart symbol and styling.

Picture 2- Text-To-Flowchart Wizard

Step 4: Click OK and the wizard will generate a flowchart.

Picture 3 - Wizard Output

Step 5: Edit as necessary. This wizard is a productivity enhancement tool, but it is not 100% automatic. Often you will need to re-arrange the layout to your liking. See the Moving Symbols and Working with Flow Lines sections for more details.