[Tex/LaTex] Is setting every node style anchor compatible with relative positioning in TikZ

positioningtikz-pgf

I'm trying to create a diagram and would like my nodes left aligned using the anchor=west option. I'd prefer to use relative positioning to make my diagram more flexible to changes. Here's my example:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

\begin{document}


\begin{tikzpicture}[%
  every node/.style = {anchor=west}]

\node[fill=red!40, draw] (n0) at (0,0) {Base node} ;
\node[fill=red!40, draw] (n1) at (0,-2) {Node with longer text} ;
\node[fill=red!40, draw] (n2) [below=of n1] {Node with even longer text} ;

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Notice how the second node uses the anchor=west style set for every node, but the third node with the longest text seems to be centered below the second vs. being left aligned with it. Is there a way to accomplish what I'm looking for?

Essentially, I want the alignment of the second node without having to specify absolute coordinates.

enter image description here

Best Answer

try this

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

\begin{document}


\begin{tikzpicture}[%
  every node/.style = {anchor=west}]

\node[fill=red!40, draw] (n0) at (0,0) {Base node} ;
\node[fill=red!40, draw] (n1) at (0,-2) {Node with longer text} ;
\node[fill=red!40, draw] (n2) [below=of n1.west, right] {Node with even longer text} ;

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

from de pgfmanual:

16.5.2 Basic Placement Options

Unfortunately, while perfectly logical, it is often rather counter-intuitive that in order to place a node above a given point, you need to specify the south anchor. For this reason, there are some useful options that allow you to select the standard anchors more intuitively:

/tikz/above (default 0pt)

Does the same as anchor=south. If the is specified, the node is additionally shifted upwards by the given .

above \tikz \fill (0,0) circle (2pt) node[above] {above};

above \tikz \fill (0,0) circle (2pt) node[above=2pt] {above};

/tikz/below=<offset>(default 0pt) Similar to above.

/tikz/left=<offset> (default 0pt) Similar to above.

/tikz/right=<offset> (default 0pt) Similar to above.

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Rotate node text and use relative positioning in TikZ

method 1 You may achieve some of what you want by changing the anchor point of the node. In addition you may also change the outer sep or use xshift, yshiftor shift. Be careful with the shiftcommands: the order in which they appear in the node settings has an effect on the result. For example:

\documentclass{standalone}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \node [draw] (first) {1};
  \node [draw, right=of first, opacity=0.5] {2};
  \node [draw=red, right=of first,rotate=90,anchor=north] {2};    
  \node [draw=blue, right=of first,rotate=90,anchor=north,outer sep=-4pt] {2};
  \node [draw=green, right=of first,xshift=-0.4cm,rotate=90,anchor=north] {2};    
  \node [draw=cyan, right=of first,rotate=90,anchor=north,xshift=-0.4cm] {2};    


\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

The result is

enter image description here

method 2 This is a modification of the answer from ignasi: rotate the text within the node and also specifying a minimum size for the node. Specifying a minimum size makes sure the node is square.

\documentclass{standalone}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[every node/.style={minimum size=1cm}]
  \node [draw] (first) {1};
  \node [draw, right=of first, opacity=0.5] {2};
  \node [draw, right=of first] {\rotatebox{90}{2}};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

The result is

enter image description here

[Tex/LaTex] How to define the default vertical distance between nodes

I don't really get the question so I hope this is what you wanted. If you include a full document (such that we copy paste and see the problem on our systems) things are much more easier.

Here, you can change the default setting within a scope but your block style had a node distance which was resetting every time it is issued. I've made it 2mm such that we can see the difference easier.

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows,shapes.geometric,positioning}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[decision/.style={diamond, draw, text width=4.5em, text badly centered, node distance=3.5cm, inner sep=0pt},
                    block/.style   ={rectangle, draw, text width=6em, text centered, rounded corners, minimum height=4em, minimum height=2em},
                    cloud/.style   ={draw, ellipse, minimum height=2em},
                    line/.style    ={draw,-latex'},
                    node distance = 1cm, 
                    auto]
    \node [block] (1st) {1st};
    \node [block, right= of 1st]  (2nd1) {2nd1};
\begin{scope}[node distance=2mm and 10mm]%Here we change it for everything inside this scope
    \node [block, above= of 2nd1] (2nd2) {2nd2};
    \node [block, below= of 2nd1] (2nd3) {2nd3};
    \node [block, right= of 2nd1] (3rd1) {3rd1};
    \node [block, above= of 3rd1] (3rd2) {3rd2};
    \node [block, above= of 3rd2] (3rd3) {3rd3};
\end{scope}
    \node [block, below= of 3rd1] (3rd4) {3rd4};
    \node [block, below= of 3rd4] (3rd5) {3rd5};

    \path [line] (1st) -- (2nd1);
    \path [line] (2nd1) -- (2nd2);
    \path [line] (2nd1) -- (2nd3);
    \path [line] (2nd2) -- (3rd3);
    \path [line] (2nd1) -- (3rd1);
    \path [line] (1st) -- (2nd1);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

Best Answer

from de pgfmanual:

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Rotate node text and use relative positioning in TikZ

[Tex/LaTex] How to define the default vertical distance between nodes

Related Question