Parsing Rules

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The Flowchart Wizard accepts a syntax that allows for parsing to set connectors and branch labels. The basic syntax is Id, Entry Text, Connector(s), where each part is defined as follows:

Entry Id: A unique number. (optional)

Entry Text: The text that will go into the flowchart symbol. (Required)

The text can contain Prefixes and Keywords.
Text containing commas should be enclosed in quotes, as in "This is an entry, and it has a comma."
Line breaks can be inserted into the text by placing a "|" character at the breakpoints.

Connector(s): (Optional) One or more Id's to connect a line to.

Connectors can simply be a comma separated list of the Entry Id's that you want to route a connector to.
Connectors can also include the connection sides and branch labels separated by colons, as in connect_to_id: side: label.
The acceptable sides are top, right, bottom, and left, and they can be abbreviated t, r, b, and l, respectively.
If the label contains a comma, the label portion must be enclosed in quotes.

Hyperlinks: (Optional)

The hyperlink must be in the form "link:address", where address is a URL, external file, or location within the current workbook.
If linking to another file, you must use the full path to the link.
If the link is a URL, accepted formats include http://, https://, ftp://, and mailto:.

Technical note on Entry Id

The Entry Id is just a placeholder using to map any connector entries. The Flowchart Wizard imports the data from the spreadsheet and stores the information along with the row and column of each entry. On the first screen of the wizard, you can set the flow direction - top to bottom or left to right. Based on this direction, the data is sorted either by column then row or row then column. The ID's shown on the second step of the wizard are based on the sort order.

Accepted formats

Format	Notes
text	Automatically assigns id; assumes connector routes to next entry
text, connect_to_id	Automatically assigns id; if you specify a connect_to_id, the corresponding id must be specified for another entry.
id, text	Assumes connector routes to next entry
id, text, connect_to_id
id, text, connect_to_id, connect_to_id, connect_to_id, ...
id, "text, that includes a comma", connect_to_id	(Safe) Most of the time, FlowBreeze can detect commas included in text passages versus the commas that delimit the sections of the parsing syntax, but enclosing this text in quotes will ensure that it is parsed correctly
id, text that includes \| a line break, connect_to_id	The '\|' symbol will be replaced with a hard line break within the flowchart shape
id, text, connect_to_id, connect_to_id, ...
id, text, connect_to_id:side:label
id, text, connect_to_id:side:label, connect_to_id:side:label, ...
..., link:address	A link can be added after any of the above formats, and it must be the last segment of the entry

Examples

Example	Description
Unload pallet and stock items	Creates a process step. When loaded, the wizard will assume a connector will be routed to the next step.
2, Unload pallet and stock items, 3	Creates process step connecting to step 3
2, Unload pallet \| stock items, 3	Creates process step connecting to step 3, with a hard line break placed as follows: Unload pallet stock items
2, Unload pallet and stock items, 3, 7	Creates process step connecting to steps 3 and 7
2, "Unload pallet, and stock items", 3	Creates process step with embedded comma connecting to step 3
7, Is shipment in system?, 8:bottom:Yes, 3:left:No	Creates decision symbol connecting to steps 8 and 3. The connector to step 8 comes out of the bottom of the decision symbol and is labeled "Yes". The connector to step 3 comes out of the right side of the decision symbol and is labeled "No".
Unload pallet and stock items, link:Sheet2!A1	Creates a process step, and clicking on the shape will navigate to the address (in this example, it would go to cell A1 on Sheet2).