[Tex/LaTex] Drawing hexagons

diagramsgrids

I have a case where I need to draw a hexagonal grid in LaTeX. I am considering just reading the grid from an eps file.

Is there an alternative way to do it completely within LaTeX?

Best Answer

Here's a quick option:

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \foreach \i in {0,...,3} 
  \foreach \j in {0,...,3} {
  \foreach \a in {0,120,-120} \draw (3*\i,2*sin{60}*\j) -- +(\a:1);
  \foreach \a in {0,120,-120} \draw (3*\i+3*cos{60},2*sin{60}*\j+sin{60}) -- +(\a:1);}
\end{tikzpicture}

Which results in

alt text

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Drawing a rectangle

You could just do something simple like this

\documentclass{article}
\newcommand\answerbox{%%
    \fbox{\rule{1in}{0pt}\rule[-0.5ex]{0pt}{4ex}}}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}

Put you answer here: \answerbox

\end{document}

which requires no use of TikZ.

enter image description here

A bit of an explanation.

The syntax for \rule is as follows:

\rule[<lift>]{<width>}{<height>}

I use two separate \rule commands because if I wrote something like

\rule{1in}{4ex}

I just get a solid black box defeating the purpose.

By using a negative value for <lift> I can drop the bottom of the box below the baseline.

\fbox then adds more space. These values are controlled with the following lengths

\fboxrule
\fboxsep

Generally, \fboxrule is 0.4pt and \fboxsep is 3pt, but you can adjust those values as desired.

[Tex/LaTex] Drawing unstructured grids with Tikz

Something like this?

\documentclass[tikz,border=5]{standalone}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach \i [evaluate={\ii=int(\i-1);}] in {0,...,11}{
  \foreach \j [evaluate={\jj=int(\j-1);}] in {0,...,11}{
    \coordinate [shift={(\j,\i)}] (n-\i-\j) at (rand*180:1/4+rnd/8);
\ifnum\i>0
  \draw [help lines] (n-\i-\j) -- (n-\ii-\j);
\fi
\ifnum\j>0
  \draw [help lines] (n-\i-\j) -- (n-\i-\jj);
\fi
}}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

And some triangles...

\documentclass[tikz,border=5]{standalone}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach \i [evaluate={\ii=int(\i-1);}] in {0,...,7}{
  \foreach \j [evaluate={\jj=int(\j-1);}] in {0,...,7}{
    \coordinate [shift={(\j,\i)}] (n-\i-\j) at (rand*180:1/4+rnd/8);
\ifnum\i>0
  \draw [help lines] (n-\i-\j) -- (n-\ii-\j);
\fi
\ifnum\j>0
  \draw [help lines] (n-\i-\j) -- (n-\i-\jj);
  \ifnum\i>0
    \pgfmathparse{int(rnd>.5)}
    \ifnum\pgfmathresult=0
      \draw [help lines] (n-\i-\j) -- (n-\ii-\jj);
    \else%
      \draw [help lines] (n-\ii-\j) -- (n-\i-\jj);
    \fi%
  \fi
\fi
}}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Although something like asymptote may be better for this kind of thing (see g.kov's answer), if you like python and use scipy and are happy compiling with --shell-escape the following (rather impractical) code may be a useful starting point.

\documentclass[tikz,border=5]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.11}
\usepgfplotslibrary{patchplots}
{\obeyspaces\obeylines%
\gdef\delauney#1#2{%
\immediate\write18{echo "x y" > #1_points.dat; echo "%
import numpy as np
points=np.array([#2])
for point in points:
    print point[0], point[1]
" | python >> #1_points.dat}%   
\immediate\write18{echo "p1 p2 p3" > #1_triangles.dat; echo "%
import scipy.spatial as sp
import os
import numpy as np
points=np.array([#2])
triangulation=sp.Delaunay(points)
for simplex in triangulation.simplices:
    print
    for vertex in simplex:
        print vertex,
" | python >> #1_triangles.dat}%   
}}

\begin{document}
\def\points{(0,0)}
\foreach \i in {1,...,50}{
  \pgfmathparse{rand*10cm}\let\x=\pgfmathresult
  \pgfmathparse{rand*10cm}\let\y=\pgfmathresult
  \xdef\points{\points,(\x,\y)}%
}
\delauney{d1}{\points} 

\begin{tikzpicture} 
\begin{axis}[width=10cm, height=10cm, axis lines=none]
\addplot [patch, patch refines=0, mesh, help lines,
  patch table={d1_triangles.dat}] table {d1_points.dat}; 
\end{axis} 
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Drawing a rectangle

[Tex/LaTex] Drawing unstructured grids with Tikz

Related Question