[Tex/LaTex] How to position nodes around another node in TiKZ

nodespositioningtikz-pgf

I'd like to position some nodes in TiKZ around a given node. I could do that manually, by setting each node position, but why not looking for an easier way that looks better?

I thought about using a path and stick the nodes to the path but I have no idea about doing this, and I also wonder: is the path the best solution?

An example would be the following where the base node is A (there is a node below it, but it's not a problem; also note that if you don't include the arrows in your answer, it's ok, I know that part):

enter image description here

My code so far has reached this stage (if you think some option in the code could be changed to make things easier or better, please let me know):

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{verbatim}


\usetikzlibrary{arrows,positioning} 
\tikzset{
    %Define standard arrow tip
    >=stealth',
    %Define style for boxes
    punkt/.style={
           rectangle,
           rounded corners,
           draw=black, thin,
           text width=6.5em,
           minimum height=2em,
           text centered},
    % Define arrow style
    pil/.style={
           ->,
           thin,
           shorten <=2pt,
           shorten >=2pt,}
}

\begin{document}

    \center\begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=5mm,
    terminal/.style={
    % The shape:
    rectangle,minimum size=6mm,rounded corners=3mm,
    % The rest
    very thick,draw=black!50,
    top color=white,bottom color=black!20,
    font=\ttfamily}]

    \node (nodezero) [terminal] {another node below A};

    \node (a) [terminal, above=3em of nodezero] {A};

    \node (01) [terminal] {1};
    \node (02) [terminal] {2};        
    \node (03) [terminal] {3};
    \node (04) [terminal] {4};
    \node (05) [terminal] {5};
    \node (06) [terminal] {6};
    \node (07) [terminal] {7};
    \node (08) [terminal] {8};
    \node (09) [terminal] {9};

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Best Answer

You may want to use the trees library in tikz, which in this situation would provide, up to me, a rather easy syntax. I made a small example for you.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning,trees,arrows}


\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[->,>=stealth',shorten <=0.5pt,
    main/.style={draw,thick,rounded corners, top color=blue!20, bottom color=white,
        minimum width=1cm},
    child/.style={draw,thick,rounded corners, top color=red!20, bottom color=white}]

    \tikzstyle{level 1}=[sibling angle=22.5]

    \node[main] (a) {A} [counterclockwise from=0]
        child { node[child] {1}}
        child { node[child] {2}}
        child { node[child] {3}}
        child { node[child] {4}}
        child { node[child] {5}}
        child { node[child] {6}}
        child { node[child] {7}}
        child { node[child] {8}}
        child { node[child] {9}}
    ;

    \node[main] (ba) [below of=a] {belowA};

    \path 
    (ba) edge (a)
    ;

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Which gives as result:

enter image description here

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