Process
A step in which something is done: a calculation, an assignment or any other operation. The process symbol is a plain rectangle with the step written inside.
Easily confused with
- EntityAn entity: a kind of thing the database keeps records about, such as orders, employees or products. In Chen’s notation and the textbooks that follow it, an entity is a rectangle with its name inside.
- Predefined processA predefined process has an extra vertical line near each end.
- TaskOne step of work in a process that isn’t broken down any further. A task is a rectangle with rounded corners, with the work written inside.
- Process boxOne step in the flow of material, such as stamping, welding or assembly. The process box is a rectangle with the name of the process in a band across the top.
How to read it
The rectangle is the basic processing symbol, the one used for any operation that has no more specific shape of its own. ANSI X3.5-1970 defines it as any kind of processing function that changes the value, form or location of information, or decides which of several flow directions to follow. ISO 5807:1985 gives the same definition. IBM’s flowcharting manual puts it the other way round: the symbol for general processing functions not represented by other symbols.
A horizontal line drawn across the top of a process box is a stripe. Under the 1970 standard it means a more detailed flowchart of that step is elsewhere in the same set of charts, with a reference to that chart written between the line and the top of the box.
Also searched as: action symbol, flowchart process, process symbol, rectangle flowchart.
Look-alikes
A rectangle with an extra vertical line near each end is a Predefined process, a step defined somewhere else. The Decision diamond is the specialised process symbol for choosing a path. On an ER diagram a plain rectangle is an entity, and in UML a rectangle in compartments is a class.
Read next
- Next in Flowchart symbolsDecisionA point where the flow branches. The decision symbol is a diamond holding a question or condition, with one path leaving it for each possible answer, often labelled Yes and No.
- The same shape in Laundry symbolsTumble dry, normal heatThe item can be tumble dried at the normal heat setting.
More flowchart symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Flowchart Symbols and Their Usage in Information Processing, ANSI X3.5-1970, adopted for federal use as FIPS PUB 24, American National Standards Institute; National Bureau of Standards (NIST), Sections 3.2.2 and 4.9.1
- Information processing: Documentation symbols and conventions for data, program and system flowcharts, program network charts and system resources charts, ISO 5807:1985, first edition (preview pages), International Organization for Standardization (iTeh Standards preview), Section 9.2.1
- Flowcharting Techniques, IBM Data Processing Techniques, Form C20-8152, International Business Machines Corporation (bitsavers.org), Program flowcharts: basic symbols; striping
- 10.3: Flowcharting, Kenneth Leroy Busbee, CSP31A C Programming, Delta College (LibreTexts Engineering), Process
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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