Professional Flowcharting Software

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Upgrading Your RFFlow
The latest release of RFFlow is Version 5.07.
Users of RFFlow Versions 5.00 through 5.06 can download a free upgrade to RFFlow 5.07.

Users of RFFlow Version 1, 2, 3, or 4 can upgrade to RFFlow 5.07 at low upgrade prices.

If you need to reinstall RFFlow on a new computer, email rff@rff.com or go to register online and request the download instructions.

RFFlow 5.07, September 3, 2024

Print Dialog Box
Microsoft changed the PrintDlg box and displays "No Preview Available." RFFlow shows its own print preview. We were able to switch back to the old PrintDlg box to fix this problem. Other applications like NotePad.exe have the same problem.

The Save Button
The Save button now shows an orange background when changes need to be saved. We still use a 3 and 1/2 inch diskette as the Save button. There needs to be a better icon for saving data to a local hard drive or solid state drive.

Larger Bitmaps
The small bitmaps in the toolbars have been enlarged from 16X16 to 32X32 since new monitors have high resolution and the bitmaps were getting too small to easily see.

Multiple Monitors
We added limited support for multiple monitors. File, New, Open, and SaveAs all open on the same monitor where RFFlow is running. All dialog boxes display near RFFlow. However, the Auto Chart programs always start in the main monitor. And if you click on a file on the desktop or in Windows Explorer, it will run on the main monitor.

Edit Text
The Edit Text dialog was made larger. It is 7/8 of the screen width now.

Shape Size
When you click on a shape in the main screen, the size of the shape will be displayed. In previous versions you had to size the shape to see it's size displayed.

Timeline Auto Chart
When you insert a CSV file into the timeline.exe program, you can specify whether you want to include duplicates or not.

RFFlow 5.06 Revision 5, January 11, 2019
We modified the way shapes are highlighted to minimize annoying blinking.

RFFlow 5.06 Revision 4, December 11, 2018
We fixed a bug in the code and also compiled it with a newer version of Microsoft Visual Studio.

RFFlow 5.06 Revision 2, February 28, 2015
Revision 2 includes more bug fixes.

RFFlow 5.06 Revision 1, August 13, 2010
Revision 1 includes a number of bug fixes.

RFFlow 5.06, May 7, 2010
This upgrade adds new stencils for mathematical symbols and military symbols. To see the new stencils, run RFFlow and click on the More Shapes button . The Stencils and Shapes dialog box will appear. The stencils are arranged in alphabetical order. Some stencils are grouped in folders so you need to open the folder by clicking the plus sign.

Math Symbols. This stencil will help when you need to add equations to your charts. You can see more equations drawn with RFFlow at www.rff.com/math-symbols.php.

Military Symbols. RFFlow now has a stencil that includes military shapes. This stencil includes the APP-6A NATO symbols. Additional examples can be found at www.rff.com/military-symbols.php.

In RFFlow 5.06 we also added additional Piping and Instrumentation shapes. These are in the Industrial Objects folder. Addition samples are located at www.rff.com/process-flow-diagrams.php.

RFFlow 5.05, September 29, 2009
Many new stencils and shapes were added to this upgrade of RFFlow.

To see the new stencils, run RFFlow and click on the More Shapes button. . The Stencils and Shapes dialog box will appear. The stencils are arranged in alphabetical order. Some stencils are grouped in folders so you need to open the folder by clicking the plus sign.

Cause Mapping Stencil. Cause mapping is part of root cause analysis. It is similar to drawing a fishbone diagram, but it reads from left to right. Fishbone diagrams read from right to left. Sample cause maps drawn with RFFlow are located at Root Cause Analysis and Cause Mapping.

RFFlow 5.05, September 29, 2009
The Process Mapping folder contains the new stencils Relationship Maps, Cross-Functional Maps, and Process Flowcharts. Samples of these charts are located at Process Maps and Process Mapping.

A stencil was added to help draw Tournament Charts. See Tournament Charts and Bracket Charts for more samples.

A Traffic Signs stencil was added to the Transportation folder. We also added more vehicles to the Vehicles stencil.

An Accidents stencil was added to the Criminal Analysis folder.

We add new stencils to the Industrial Objects folder. The new stencils are Function Blocks, General Instrument Symbols, and Piping and Instrumentation.

We added a large number of Cisco network symbols. These are found in the Computers/Networks folder.

RFFlow 5.04 September 17, 2008
Two New Auto chart timeline Styles. Earlier versions of RFFlow allowed the user to input data and RFFlow would draw a criminal analysis style timeline. Now you can select 3 different styles of timelines.

Rectangle and Line Style Timeline

Bar Chart Timeline Style

Criminal Analysis Timeline Style

New Buttons for Auto Charts
On earlier versions of RFFlow, you had to click on Tools, Auto Charts, and Draw Timeline to draw a timeline chart. Now you can simply add the Draw Timeline button to the toolbar. To add a button to a toolbar, click on View, Toolbars. We have added 7 new buttons to RFFlow so all the auto chart generators have their own button.

Fuzzy Shadows
We added gradient shadows to most shapes along with solid shadows.

Group Command
If you select a group of objects and right-click on the selection, you can now click on Group and group these shapes into one shape. This is a permanent grouping and the new shape will move and rotate as one shape. This is helpful when you want to draw your own shapes to use in RFFlow.

Apply Color to a Chart
If you want to color a chart that you have already drawn, you can click on Tools, Color, and Apply a Color Scheme. If you only want to add a background color, you can click on Tools, Color, and Apply a Background Color.

Apply Color to a Stencil
To add color to a stencil, right-click on the name of the stencil on the left side of the RFFlow Window and click Choose a Color Scheme in the drop-down menu.

More Shapes and Stencils

We have added a stencil with lines that have the arrow in the middle of the line. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Lines folder, and click Lines with Arrow in the Middle.

We added a stencil containing audio equipment. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Electrical/Electronics folder, and click Audio Equipment.

We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that have a dark boundary. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored Edge Shapes.

We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that have a gradient fill color. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored Gradient Shapes.

We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that have rounded corners. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored, Rounded Shapes.

We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that appear to have reflected light at the top. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored with Reflections.

We added a stencil for Value Stream Mapping. Click on the More Shapes button , scroll to the end and click on Value Stream Mapping.

Numerous Small Changes
Click on File, Properties to see information about the currently opened file.
Move a shape forward or back by right-clicking on the shape and selecting Move Back or Move Forward. This changes the shape's stacking order.
Select the color of the lines on the ruler by clicking View, Ruler.
On a telephone chart, you can select to show only a minimum number of calls.
On a Gantt chart, you can specify the end date instead of the duration, skipped days will be grayed on the Gantt chart, and you can input and display time in a 24-hour format.
On a criminal analysis timeline you can now have the events automatically numbered and include source information that you can paste into your word processor.

RFFlow 5.03, February 16, 2007

Antialiasing (Smoothing)
RFFlow 5.03 uses Microsoft GDI+ rather than the older GDI to draw graphics. With GDI+, lines and curves are smoothed and don't show the jagged appearance of GDI.

Save As PNG and TIFF
RFFlow 5.03 now allows you to save your charts as BMP, EMF, GIF, HTML, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF. PNG is the Portable Network Graphics format and is a good replacement for GIF. It allows for more colors than GIF and it is supported on all browsers. TIFF is the Tag Image File Format. TIFF is useful if your charts are going to be published.

Insert, Picture from File, PNG and TIFF
RFFlow 5.03 allows you to insert pictures of these file formats into your chart: BMP, EMF, GIF, ICON, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF. These pictures can be sized and rotated in RFFlow.

Alpha Channel Transparency
RFFlow 5.03 allows you to specify an alpha value for each color. This allows fill colors to be transparent. The range is from 255 which is a solid color to 0 which is completely transparent. In the picture below, the red rectangle has an alpha of 255 and is a solid color. The yellow, green, and purple shapes have alpha values around 150 and allow the background to show through.

Gradient Fills
RFFlow 5.03 allows you to fill any shape with a either a linear gradient or path gradient. You specify two colors and the fill changes from one color to the other.

More Hatched Patterns
RFFlow 5.03 has expanded the number of hatch pattern fills from 6 to 53 patterns.

Shadows on all Shapes
In earlier versions of RFFlow, some shapes had fixed shadows. RFFlow 5.03 allows you to put a shadow on any shape and the size, position, and color of the shadow can be modified. To add a shadow to a shape, right-click the shape, click Properties, Line and Color tab, and click the Add a Shadow button.

Added Multiplier to Dimensions on Lines
In earlier versions of RFFlow, you could set up the dimensions on lines so that each grid unit is 1 inch, 1 mm, 1 foot, etc. With RFFlow 5.03, you can also specify a multiplier so that each grid unit is .25 inches or 10.7776 inches. To set this up, click on Tools and Dimensions on Lines. To select a line style, click the More Shapes button, Lines folder, and Lines with Dimensions stencil.

New RFFlow In-program Help
RFFlow 5.03 uses compiled HTML Help instead of the older Windows Help. This allows RFFlow 5.03 Help to be viewed in Windows Vista, 7 and 8. Click on Help in the main menu of RFFlow and RFFlow Help.

New Gradient Flowchart Stencil
Click on the More Shapes button, Flowcharting folder, Color Schemes folder, and Gradients stencil. You will then be asked to select a color scheme, gradient style, and with or without a shadow.

Association Matrix
In RFFlow 5.03 the matrix includes totals at the bottom of the chart and you can view the chart as you are adding data by clicking on View in the main menu of RFMatrix.

Telephone Analysis
In RFFlow 5.03 you can select the target phone number from either column instead of just the left column as was the case in earlier versions of RFFlow.

Free RFFlow 5.07 Upgrade
Users of RFFlow Versions 5.00 through 5.06 can download the free upgrade to RFFlow 5.07.

If you have any questions, call us at 970-663-5767 or send email to help@rff.com