State Diagram

What is the Difference between a State Diagram and a Flowchart?

A flowchart illustrates processes that are executed in the system that change the state of objects. A state diagram shows the actual changes in state, not the processes or commands that created those changes.

States

States represent situations during the life of an object. You can easily illustrate a state in SmartDraw by using a rectangle with rounded corners.

Transition

A solid arrow represents the path between different states of an object. Label the transition with the event that triggered it and the action that results from it. A state can have a transition that points back to itself.

Initial State

A filled circle followed by an arrow represents the object's initial state.

Final State

An arrow pointing to a filled circle nested inside another circle represents the object's final state.

Synchronization and Splitting of Control

A short heavy bar with two transitions entering it represents a synchronization of control. The first bar is often called a fork where a single transition splits into concurrent multiple transitions. The second bar is called a join, where the concurrent transitions reduce back to one.