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This provides a GUI application for building sharing Unicode-based flowcharts, to easily communicate what code does, to both technical and business stakeholders.

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SandyGCabanes/Unicode-Flowchart-Builder-App

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Unicode Flowchart Builder App

Python

A lightweight, Tkinter-based GUI for creating Unicode flowcharts — no browser, no complex diagramming tools, just instant, portable text diagrams.

Main UI screenshot

Start UI

Why This Exists

  • Creating flowcharts in draw.io or Mermaid is slow and requires browser rendering.
  • Needed a fast, shareable, text-based diagram format for workflows, algorithms, and pipelines.
  • Unicode characters make diagrams portable — they work in plain text, emails, code comments, and documentation.

What It Does

  • Builds flowcharts from text input — no manual drawing.
  • Automates layout — you define steps, connections, and loops; the app handles spacing and alignment.
  • Exports anywhere — copy to clipboard or save as .txt for universal compatibility.

How It Works

  1. Add Steps
    • Choose Regular Step or Merge Step.
  2. Define Connections
    • Select the source step and branch direction (Down or Right).
  3. Handle Loops
    • If part of a loop, add a label showing where it returns.
  4. Generate Output
    • App renders a Unicode flowchart instantly.

Demo

Key Features

  • GUI built with Tkinter — no external dependencies.
  • Unicode-based rendering — works in any text environment.
  • Loop-friendly — uses text labels instead of arrows for clarity.
  • Audit-friendly — output is plain text, easy to version-control.

Example Use Cases

  • Documenting code workflows.
  • Outlining data pipelines.
  • Creating process diagrams for reports.
  • Embedding diagrams in AI-assisted coding prompts.

Design Choices

These are the decisions I made to balance simplicity with usefulness.

  • No loop arrows — replaced with labeled loop text for simplicity and readability.
  • Add loops manually after creating txt file.
  • Two arrow directions - Down and right only for simplicity.
  • Merge step is included for two flows
  • Portable output — .txt ensures diagrams survive copy-paste across platforms.

Background

Built to speed up workflow documentation.
Instead of wrestling with browser-based tools, this provides a local, instant, reproducible way to create diagrams that can live in:

  • GitHub READMEs
  • Audit documentation
  • Plain-text project notes

Block Diagram of Workflow

SGC. Data-Powered Decisions.

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This provides a GUI application for building sharing Unicode-based flowcharts, to easily communicate what code does, to both technical and business stakeholders.

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