Create an SDL flowchart

Use Specification and Description Language (SDL) shapes, designed to International Telecommunications Union standards, to create object-oriented flowcharts that document communications and telecommunications systems networks.

1. On the File menu, point to New, point to Flowchart, and then click SDL Diagram.

2. For each step in the process you are documenting, drag a flowchart shape onto your drawing.

3. Connect the shapes.

   1. Drag a shape from a stencil onto the drawing page and position it near another shape.

      

   2. While still holding down the mouse button, move the pointer over one of the blue triangles. The triangle turns dark blue.

      

   3. Release the mouse button. The shape is placed on the drawing page, and a connector is added and glued to both shapes.

      

      Tip: To reverse the direction of the arrow on a connector, on the Shape menu, point to Operations, and then click Reverse Ends.

4. To add text to a shape, select it, and then type. When you are finished typing, click outside the text block.

5. You can number the shapes in your flowchart to illustrate the sequence of process steps.

   1. In a flowchart, select the shapes you want to number.

   2. On the Tools menu, point to Add-Ons, and then click Number Shapes.

   3. On the General tab, under Operation, click Auto Number. Under Apply To, click Selected Shapes, and then click OK.

      Tip: To number new flowchart shapes as they are dragged onto the page, in the Number Shapes dialog box, click Continue numbering shapes as dropped on page.