RAPTOR Flowchart Tutorial (Beginners)

In this tutorial, there will be step-by-step instructions to operate the RAPTOR App and most of its basic functions. Before we begin the tutorial, below is a brief explanation of what RAPTOR is and it’s main use.

RAPTOR itself is an acronym for Rapid Algorithmic Prototyping Tool for Ordered Reasoning and is developed by Terry A. Wilson, Martin C. Carlisle, Jeffrey W. Humphries, and Jason A. Moore (Windows Version).

Figure 1.0 RAPTOR application icon/logo

RAPTOR is a flowchart-based programming environment, designed specifically to help students visualize their algorithms and avoid syntactic baggage. RAPTOR programs are created visually and executed visually by tracing the execution through the flowchart. Required syntax is kept to a minimum. Students prefer using flowcharts to express their algorithms, and are more successful creating algorithms using RAPTOR than using a traditional language or writing flowcharts without RAPTOR.

Function/Symbol Usage

In RAPTOR, there are a few main functions to be used in creating a flowchart. Those functions are:

• Assignment: Used to change the value of a variable. The right hand side of the assignment is evaluated, and the resulting value is placed in the variable on the left hand side. In other words, it is a function that is used to state a value on a variable.
• Call: Used to invoke procedures such as graphics routines and other instructor provided procedures. The call symbol is also used to run sub charts included in a RAPTOR program. The latter is what I personally use the Call symbol for.
• Input: Used to ask the user for a number of string while the flowchart is executing. When it is executed, the user will be prompted to enter a value that can be interpreted as either a number or string, depending on what the user typed (either with “ “ (quotation marks to state a string), or without (to state a number)).
• Output: Used to either write a number or text to the Master Console window (the window used to display outputs and/or errors after running the program).
• Selection: A structure used for decision making. The programmer enters in the diamond an expression that evaluates to Yes (True) or No (False). Based on the result of the expression in the diamond, control of the program will branch to either left (Yes, or True) or right (No, or False).
• Loop: A structure used to repeat a sequence of symbols until a certain condition is met. When execution reaches the bottom of the loop, it starts over again at the top. The loop is exited when the diamond symbol is executed and the Boolean expression in the diamond evaluates to Yes (True).

Step-by-step Tutorial on Creating a Flowchart

This brief tutorial will guide you through building and executing a simple flowchart.

This particular example is one that asks the user for a number, and then counts down to zero (displaying each number to the Master Console window).

1. Open the RAPTOR application
2. Create a new save file (mandatory)
3. Add an input symbol to the flowchart by left-clicking once on the Input symbol and then adding it between Start and End. Double click (or right click and click on “Edit”) to add the prompt “Enter a number” (quotation marks are mandatory so the program can display the written words after running the flowchart) and use the variable name Count.

Figure 2.0 Step 3

4. Next, add a Loop structure and edit its expression to “Count < 0”

Figure 3.0 Step 4

5. Add an Output symbol to output the variable Count to the MasterConsole.

Figure 4.0 Step 5

6. Add an Assignment symbol to decrement the value of Count. See figure below for clarification

Figure 5.0 Step 6

7. Execute the Flowchart by clicking on the Play/Run button located on the upper toolbar [▷].

If all the steps above were followed correctly, the MasterConsole window will show a result such as:

Figure 6.0 MasterConsole window view

All Done!

Hurray, you just finished your first flowchart on RAPTOR!

I sincerely hope this quick and *hopefully* easy tutorial will be of use to you in the future, and hopefully spark some curiosity towards this very application because it is a fun and less-stress inducing way to get yourself into the world of programming by learning the syntaxes and various different functions available.

If by chance there are some missed steps or explanation, you can check out my video down here that hopefully answers those errors you faced :)