[Tex/LaTex] Rectanglar cloud shaped node in TikZ

clouddecorationstikz-pgf

I am trying to make an automatically scaling rectangular cloud shape around a node in TikZ. The first attempt below gives a cloud shaped like an ellipse, but I don't like that. I would like it to be rectangular, like the second attempt. But that one fails in another way; The corners are wrong and the edges are inside out.

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes,positioning,decorations.pathmorphing}

\newcommand{\thinkA}[1] {
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    \node[cloud, draw, align=left, cloud puffs=20,cloud puff arc=110, aspect=2, inner sep=0mm]{#1};
  \end{tikzpicture}
}

\newcommand{\thinkB}[1] {
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    \node [rectangle, draw, decoration=bumps, decorate, align=left, inner sep=4mm] {#1};
  \end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document}
\thinkA{$3+5=8$\\$8+1=9$\\$9+6=15$}

\thinkB{$3+5=8$\\$8+1=9$\\$9+6=15$}
\end{document}

Edit:

Thank you for feedback so far. The solutions look promising, but have some flaws with other content than in the provided example:

I have tried to make a plan towards what I can use: Preferably a command with three parameters; first is the contents, second is the margin, and third is the diameter of the circles like in this figure:

The green fill has to be calculated so that the pattern of circles around the edge works out. In the figure above, the margin is set to 2mm and the circle diameter is 5mm. The contents happens to be 32mm wide and 16mm high. So we need 4mm extra width and 0mm extra height to make the circles match up.

I tried making something like this, but I am really struggling with programming TikZ. The sample below is a modified version of something I found elsewhere on the forum:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes,positioning,decorations.pathmorphing,calc}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[x=1mm,y=1mm]
\coordinate (NW) at (-30,20);
\coordinate (NE) at (30,20);
\coordinate (SW) at (-30,-20);
\coordinate (SE) at (30,-20);
\foreach \i in {0,2,...,12}{
    \draw[black] ([xshift=\i*5mm]NW) circle (5mm); % Draw circles on top
    \draw[black] ([xshift=\i*5mm]SW) circle (5mm); % Draw circles on bottom
}
\foreach \i in {2,4,...,6}{
    \draw[black] ([yshift=-\i*5mm]NW) circle (5mm); % Draw circles on left
    \draw[black] ([yshift=-\i*5mm]NE) circle (5mm); % Draw circles on right
}
\fill[white] (NW) rectangle (SE);
\node {contents};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Edit 2:

I'm struggling to understand the let command, and combining it with a loop to draw a series of arcs along the edge. Heck: I can't even calculate the distance between two points! I really suck at this. I realized don't really need three parameters, I would be happy to let the margin be fixed with inner sep inside the command, and another fixed size for the circle radius, as I would probably use the same radius all the time..

Edit 3:

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, sit down and study the documentation. So I did that, and worked out the following solution. The code is ugly and does not work if the cloud arc radius is very large compared to the width and height of the contents, but this solution works for me:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\newcommand{\think}[1] {
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \node (X) [rectangle, align=left, inner sep=2mm] {#1};
  \def\R{1.7mm}% Radius of cloud arcs
  \draw let
    \p1 = ($ (X.north east) - (X.north west) $),
    \p2 = ($ (X.north east) - (X.south east) $),
    \n{width} = {veclen(\x1,\y1)},
    \n{height}= {veclen(\x2,\y2)},
    \n{wnum} = {ceil(\n{width}/(2*\R)) - 1},
    \n{hnum} = {ceil(\n{height}/(2*\R)) - 1},
    \n{newwidth}  = {(2*\R) * (\n{wnum}+1)},
    \n{newheight} = {(2*\R) * (\n{hnum}+1)},
    \p3 = ($ (X.center) + (-\n{newwidth}/2,\n{newheight}/2) $)
    in
    \foreach \m in {1,2,...,\n{wnum}} {
        ($(\p3) + (\R+\m*2*\R,0)$) arc(0:180:\R)
        ($(\p3) + (-\R+\m*2*\R,-\n{newheight})$) arc(180:360:\R)
    }
    \foreach \m in {1,2,...,\n{hnum}} {
        ($(\p3) + (0,\R-\m*2*\R)$) arc(90:270:\R)
        ($(\p3) + (\n{newwidth},-\R-\m*2*\R)$) arc(-90:90:\R)
    }
    ($ (\p3) + (\R,0) $) arc(0:270:\R)% top left corner
    ($ (\p3) + (\n{newwidth},-\R) $) arc(-90:180:\R)% top right corner
    ($ (\p3) + (0,-\n{newheight}+\R) $) arc(90:360:\R)% bottom left corner
    ($ (\p3) + (\n{newwidth}-\R,-\n{newheight}) $) arc(-180:90:\R);% bottom right corner
\end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document}
\think{$3+5=8$\\$8+1=9$\\$9+6=15$}
\end{document}

Best Answer

The following example drops the line drawing from the rectangular node. Instead, it draws the decorated line afterwards. The corners are fixed by replacing them by quarters of a circle:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes,positioning,decorations.pathmorphing}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\newcommand{\thinkC}[1] {
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    \node (X) [rectangle,
      % draw,
      % rounded corners,
      % decoration={snake, amplitude=2pt},
      % decorate,
      align=left, inner sep=4mm] {#1};
    \def\R{11pt}
    \draw[
      decoration={bumps,segment length=8.1192pt},
      decorate,
    ]
      ($(X.south west) + (\R, 0)$) arc(270:180:\R) --
      ($(X.north west) + (0, -\R)$) arc(180:90:\R) --
      ($(X.north east) + (-\R, 0)$) arc(90:0:\R) --
      ($(X.south east) + (0, \R)$) arc(0:-90:\R) --
      cycle
    ;
  \end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document}
  \thinkC{$3+5=8$\\$8+1=9$\\$9+6=15$}
\end{document}

Disadvantage: The segment length need to be carefully chosen to avoid a straight line at the end of the path, because the remaining room is too small for a full "bump".

The following method uses a decorated rectangle with path has corners. Then the rectangle is made a little larger, that both width and height fit to an integer number of bumps, see the comments in the code:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes,positioning,decorations.pathmorphing}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\newcommand*{\StartSegmentLength}{8pt}

\newcommand{\thinkC}[1] {
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    % The rectangle node without frame
    \node (X) [
      rectangle,
      align=left,
      inner sep=4mm,
    ] {#1};

    % Get the width \WD and height \HT of the rectangle
    \pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointanchor{X}{south west}}{\pgfpointanchor{X}{north east}}
    \pgfgetlastxy\WD\HT

    % The shorter lenght of \WD and \HT is used to adapt the
    % segment length. \L is the shorter of \WD and \HT.
    % It is assumed that both \WD and \HT are large enough to contain
    % quite a few bumps, thus that the recalculated segment length
    % does not change too much. Also it is assumed, that enlarging the
    % larger length (width or height) is visually noticed less than
    % enlarging the smaller length.
    \ifdim\WD<\HT
      \let\L\WD
    \else
      \let\L\HT
    \fi

    % Recalculate the segment length.
    % Option "segment length" seems to cover *two* bumps.
    % Thus the calculations/roundings are done with half of the segment
    % length.
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\SegmentLength{\L / round(\L*2/\StartSegmentLength)}

    % Calculate the new height and width as multiple of half of
    % the segment length.
    % The addition of .1pt should protect from rounding errors.
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\newHT{
      round(\HT/\SegmentLength) * \SegmentLength + .1pt
    }
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\newWD{
      round(\WD/\SegmentLength) * \SegmentLength + .1pt
    }

    % Calculate the offsets for the corner points of the rectangle
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\XOff{(\newWD - \WD)/2}
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\YOff{(\newHT - \HT)/2}

    % Full segment length
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\SegmentLength{2 * \SegmentLength}

    % Now the decoration:
    \draw[
      decoration={
        bumps,
        segment length=\SegmentLength,
        path has corners,
      },
      decorate,
      line join=round,
    ]
      ($(X.south west) - (\XOff, \YOff)$) rectangle
      ($(X.north east) + (\XOff, \YOff)$)
    ;

    % Debugging only: The red box shows the original rectangle.
    % \draw[very thin, red] (X.south west) rectangle (X.north east);
  \end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document}
  \centering

  \thinkC{$3+5=8$\\$8+1=9$\\$9+6=15$}

  \thinkC{21212121212121}

\end{document}

Update: line join=round added for nicer connections between bumps.

Fix for the original solution with rounded corners

The number of bumps per corner can be configured by defining macro \BumpsPerCorner.

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes,positioning,decorations.pathmorphing}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\newcommand{\thinkC}[1]{
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    % The rectangle node without frame
    \node (X) [
      rectangle,
      align=left,
      inner sep=4mm,
    ] {#1};

    \def\SegmentLength{8pt}
    \def\BumpsPerCorner{4}

    % A bump uses half of the segment length
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\BumpLength{\SegmentLength/2}

    % Calculate radius, large enough for specified \BumpsPerCorner
    % Addition of .1pt should protect from rounding errors
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\R{
      \BumpsPerCorner * 2 * \BumpLength / pi + .1pt
    }

    % Get the width \WD and height \HT of the rectangle
    \pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointanchor{X}{south west}}
                 {\pgfpointanchor{X}{north east}}
    \pgfgetlastxy\WD\HT

    % Get \WD and \HT as length of the straight lines
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\WD{\WD - 2 * \R}
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\HT{\HT - 2 * \R}

    % Calculate new lengths as integer factor of the Bump length
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\newWD{
      round(\WD/\BumpLength) * \BumpLength + .1pt
    }
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\newHT{
      round(\HT/\BumpLength) * \BumpLength + .1pt
    }

     % Calculate the offsets for the corner points of the rectangle
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\XOff{(\newWD - \WD)/2}
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\YOff{(\newHT - \HT)/2}

    % Full segment length
    \pgfmathsetlengthmacro\SegmentLength{2 * \BumpLength}

    % Now the decoration:
    \draw[
      decoration={
        bumps,
        segment length=\SegmentLength,
        path has corners,
      },
      decorate,
      line join=round,
    ]
      ($(X.south west) + (-\XOff, -\YOff) + (\R, 0)$) arc(270:180:\R) --
      ($(X.north west) + (-\XOff, \YOff) + (0, -\R)$) arc(180:90:\R) --
      ($(X.north east) + (\XOff, \YOff) + (-\R, 0)$) arc(90:0:\R) --
      ($(X.south east) + (\XOff, -\YOff) + (0, \R)$) arc(0:-90:\R) --
      cycle
    ;

    % Debugging only: The red box shows the original rectangle.
    % \draw[very thin, red] (X.south west) rectangle (X.north east);
    \iffalse
      \draw[red, very thin]
        ($(X.south west) + (-\XOff, -\YOff) + (\R, 0)$) arc(270:180:\R) --
        ($(X.north west) + (-\XOff, \YOff) + (0, -\R)$) arc(180:90:\R) --
        ($(X.north east) + (\XOff, \YOff) + (-\R, 0)$) arc(90:0:\R) --
        ($(X.south east) + (\XOff, -\YOff) + (0, \R)$) arc(0:-90:\R) --
        cycle
      ;
    \fi
  \end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document}
  \centering

  \thinkC{$3+5=8$\\$8+1=9$\\$9+6=15$}

  \thinkC{21212121212121}

\end{document}

Bumps per corner: 4

Bumps per corner: 6

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Rotate a node but not its content: the case of the ellipse decoration

The source of the difficulty is that ellipses are constructed in a particular way in TikZ. They are paths that start from the x-axis and proceed counter-clockwise around their centre. The vast majority of the time, the exact parametrisation doesn't matter. You appear to have found the one situation where it does!

In the actual question, you only want to be able to mirror the ellipse, and so draw it starting from the negative x-axis (the title of the question suggests a more flexible approach). That's actually not too hard since we can exploit the symmetry of the ellipse. The key is to provide it with a negative x-radius, since then it will start from the negative x-axis (and proceed clockwise, but we could correct for that by negating the y-radius as well). To do this, we interrupt the call from the node shape to the drawing command and flip the sign of the x-radius. The simplest way to do this is to redefine the \pgfpathellipse macro to do the negation and then call the original macro. The following code does this.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations,shapes,decorations.markings}
\makeatletter
\let\origpgfpathellipse=\pgfpathellipse
\def\revpgfpathellipse#1#2#3{%
  #2%
  \pgf@xa=-\pgf@x
  \origpgfpathellipse{#1}{\pgfqpoint{\pgf@xa}{0pt}}{#3}}
\makeatother

\tikzset{
  reversed ellipse/.style={
    ellipse,
    reverse the ellipse%
  },
  reverse the ellipse/.code={
    \let\pgfpathellipse=\revpgfpathellipse
  }
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node[ellipse,
  draw,
  postaction={
    decorate,
    decoration={
      markings,
      mark=at position 1 with {
        \arrow[line width=5pt,blue]{>}
      }
    }
  }
] at (0,0) {hello world};

\node[reversed ellipse,
  draw,
  postaction={
    decorate,
    decoration={
      markings,
      mark=at position 1 with {
        \arrow[line width=5pt,blue]{>}
      }
    }
  }
] at (0,-2) {hello world};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Here's the result:

rotated ellipse

(the arrow got clipped, but you can see where it lies)

[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

Fix for the original solution with rounded corners

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Rotate a node but not its content: the case of the ellipse decoration

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

Related Question