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AllClear is a text-based flowcharting program. Clear Software, creator of AllClear, was purchased by SPSS Inc. The recently released version 4.0 shows that AllClear clearly benefited from the influence of its new owners. AllClear retains the one aspect that makes it unique in the flowcharting market - the ability to convert a text outline into a flowchart and to modify that chart to reflect any changes made to the outline.
It's been some time since we have seen a new version of AllClear, the text-based flowcharting program. The primary reason is that Clear Software, creator of AllClear, was purchased by SPSS Inc., Chicago, and the program has undergone a significant overhaul in the past year. The recently released version 4.0 is the result and AllClear has clearly benefited from the influence of its new owners.
AllClear retains the one aspect that makes it unique in the flowcharting market-the ability to convert a text outline into a flowchart and to modify that chart to reflect any changes made to the outline.
Whether you like to create flowcharts by creating a text outline or by dragging and dropping shapes onto a grid is a matter of personal preference. I prefer the drag-and-drop method but have talked to more than one person who is a big fan of the text-outline approach.
In general, the text-input aspect of the program seems to better execute what I want, though I can't point to specific reasons why. Maybe I'm just getting better at text-entry flowchart creation. Two notable improvements in the text-entry system are a spell checker and an outline tool-tree structure that allows you to create multilevel charts that can be expanded and collapsed.
Most of the major improvements to this latest iteration of AllClear have been to the program's shape drag-and-drop features. It's now considerably easier than with previous versions to create flowcharts by dragging shapes onto the workspace. In many ways, AllClear's drag-and-drop capabilities are more user-friendly and effective than competitive flowchart programs.
A new addition-and a huge highlight of the program-is the Diagrammer. This little floating box is a superb tool that will greatly simplify flowchart creation. Among Diagrammer's features is the ability to drag multiple copies of a shape onto the workspace, all of them connected. Several decision-node arrangements are offered, as are several arrangements for organization charts. All you have to do is select an arrangement and drag it to the node to which it should be connected, and AllClear does the rest. Any node or node combination you drag from the Diagrammer can be formatted so that each node contains the same look and text specifications.
I don't know of any other flowchart program that offers a tool as handy as the Diagrammer. It's an excellent, effective, and easy-to-use time saver to which you can quickly become addicted.
The ability to attach files and other information to flowchart nodes is another significant new feature for AllClear. You can attach basic notes, files from other programs, data, or Web site addresses. To find out what's attached, you right-click on a node and choose Box Information from the pop-up menu. To attach a note or file, you simply select the appropriate node, and click on one of the attachment buttons on the toolbar. A dialog box appears that lets you choose what kind of information you want to attach. This is a very good design because it lets you attach any type of information from a single box.
One thing that befuddles me is why they would create this feature and then not put some kind of icon next to the node on the flowchart to indicate that additional information is attached to that particular node. For a user to find any additional information attached to a node, he/she must conduct a treasure hunt by going through the flowchart and right-clicking on each node to see what's available. Lack of an icon basically defeats the whole purpose of being able to attach additional information.
Other features of note include:
* a greatly expanded selection of shapes
* a tool for modifying shapes and creating your own shapes
* a wide selection of automated layouts
* the ability to add or remove space to improve flowchart appearance
* a file-export feature that lets you convert flowcharts to file formats such as .jpeg, .eps, .tif, .bmp, and .wmf
* ability to import Visio (Visio Corp., Seattle, WA) diagrams
* a fishbone-diagram program. (This is a separate 16-bit program that you have the option of installing when you install
AllClear. I didn't have much luck creating a diagram with this program.)
AllClear 4.0 is a vastly improved software package that offers much more than just a unique text-entry approach to creating flowcharts. It is a versatile, powerful program that allows you to quickly and accurately create and modify a wide range of flowcharts. It now clearly has to be considered one of the leading flowchart programs available to quality professionals.-Gary L. Parr
SPSS Inc.
(312) 329-2400 Circle 7
Copyright Hitchcock Publishing Company Apr 1998