Is there any reference that defines how individual Visio shapes should be used (possibly, with examples)? For example, what's the appropriate usage of Summing Junctions?
There are far too many to describe in any reasonable time. I suppose a rather glib response is that if you don't know what they mean then you probably don't need the shape! Which stencil is this Summing Junction from?
It's from the Miscellaneous Flowchart Shapes stencil. There is a shape related to the 'Summing Junction', which is the 'Or' shape.
My guess is that the 'Or' shape is used when the process can move forward when any one of multiple upstream parallel process steps have been completed. If true, I'd guess the 'Summing Junction' should be used when the process can only move forward when ALL of the upstream parallel process steps have been completed. But, I'm not sure these are valid assumptions for these two shapes....
http://www.rff.com/flowchart_shapes.htm (http://www.rff.com/flowchart_shapes.htm)
I must admit I'd never have thought of looking in a flowcharts stencil, the shape is normally used in electronics and process control.
Thanks!
Actually, I think that shape is typically used in electrical block diagrams -- mostly, but not exclusively, associated with control blocks / loops. The "summing" symbol is used to combine two signals and the output then may be processed by the next functional block.
Wapperdude