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Java Forum / Tools / November 2005

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Wanted: a tool to convert Java code to Visio flowcharts

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Jonathan Sachs - 24 Nov 2005 02:51 GMT
Searching the Web, I found several tools that are claimed to perform
this task:

http://www.fatesoft.com/s2f/
http://www.aivosto.com/visustin.html
http://www.gold-software.com/download4950.html
http://www.reliableunion.com/
http://www.brothersoft.com/Software_Developer_Compilers_and_IDEs_SourceCode2Flow
chart_24949.html


I want to ask whether anyone can recommend (or warn against) any of
these tools, or others like them.

The tool I choose must be reliable and accurate, compatible with
current Java specifications, and available for Microsoft Windows. It
must be able to generate ANSI standard flowcharts: standard shapes, no
colors, no curvy arrows, etc. I would prefer to pay no more than about
$100, but I will probably pay whatever I must to get a tool that works
well.

WHY DO I WANT FLOWCHARTS, ANYWAY?

I'm sure some of you will want to know, so I'll explain it now.

As a programmer, I stopped using flowcharts decades ago. I know all
the arguments against them, and agree with most.

But I'm not a programmer any more. I'm an ex-programmer, about to
begin work as a patent attorney. In my new career I will be preparing
patent applications for computer programs, many of them written in
Java.

It happens that flowcharts are the U.S. Patent Office's preferred
medium for describing program logic. Furthermore, I understand that
some foreign patent offices do not merely prefer flowcharts, but
require them.

So this is not really a question of why I want flowcharts; I do not
have a choice.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
Hal Rosser - 24 Nov 2005 05:05 GMT
You might want to try Poseidon for UML -
or
Visual Paradigm

I would think Flowcharts would not be as useful as UML diagrams, use case
diagrams, etc for OO program design.

Flowcharts lend themselves more to languages like Cobol, or C (or other
'procedural' languages).
But, I guess you COULD do everything in one  class in the main method....
Jonathan Sachs - 24 Nov 2005 14:28 GMT
>You might want to try Poseidon for UML - or Visual Paradigm

Absolutely true, but as I explained, this is not about what is useful
for design work, but what is required for an entirely different
purpose.

>I would think Flowcharts would not be as useful as UML diagrams, use case
>diagrams, etc for OO program design.

Data structures as such are not patentable, and in most cases can be
described quite generally. A procedural description is all I really
need (or will be allowed) to present. The flowchart is an adequate
tool for that purpose, although a very clumsy one.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
Jonathan Sachs - 25 Nov 2005 04:39 GMT
>You might want to try Poseidon for UML - or Visual Paradigm

Are you sure that these products produce flowcharts? I searched for
information both on their web sites and over the Web at large, and I
could not find any mention of that.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.


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