Overlapping nodes in tikz

Question

I used to make a chain diagram in tikz, like described in the manual p. 59 ff, but in contrast to the manual, my nodes are overlapping. I tried to use the "node distance" option but i doesn't seem to work. Below is the minimal working example (writeLatex.com):

\documentclass[12pt]{scrartcl}

\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}[tb]
    \begin{center}
    \begin{tikzpicture}[
            % copy to preamble to use it everywhere \tikzset{node/.style...}
            node/.style={
                % shape
                rectangle,
                rounded corners=1mm,
                minimum size=6mm,
                %border
                thick,
                draw,
            },
            dummy/.style={
                % shape
                rectangle,
                rounded corners=1mm,
                minimum size=6mm,
                %border
                thick,
            },
            node distance=10mm
            ]
            \node(wadl)[node]{WADL-Datei};
            \node(xsd1)[node,below left of=wadl]{XSD-Datei};
            \node(...)[dummy,below of=wadl]{\ldots};
            \node(xsd3)[node,below right of=wadl]{XSD-Datei};
            \node(test)[node,right of=wadl]{test};

            \path(wadl) edge[->] (test);
        \end{tikzpicture}   
    \end{center}
    \caption{Codegeneratorsystem}
    \label{fig:codegeneratorsystem}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Related (and explains this behavior): Difference between "right of=" and "right=of" in PGF/TikZ — Qrrbrbirlbel, Jun 18 '13 at 16:08
By the way, you talk of chains and use the [tag:tikz-chains] tag but actually do not use the chains library (which uses the superior positioning library automatically and can simplify the creation of chain diagrams in certain aspects). Also, a node name of ... calls for trouble as TikZ uses the . to separate node name and node anchor in the implicit node coordinate syntax. You won’t be able to reference any of ...’s anchors nor use it with the positioning library as a reference node. — Qrrbrbirlbel, Jun 18 '13 at 16:13

score 20 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 18 '13 at 14:56

To have the nodes properly positionated relative to other nodes, you have to include the positioning tikz library. and change the syntax of your relative positioning from below of=node to below = of node, i.e., the equal sign comes before the of keyword.

This way:

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

\begin{figure}[tb]
    \begin{center}
    \begin{tikzpicture}[
            % copy to preamble to use it everywhere \tikzset{node/.style...}
            node/.style={
                % shape
                rectangle,
                rounded corners=1mm,
                minimum size=6mm,
                %border
                thick,
                draw,
            },
            dummy/.style={
                % shape
                rectangle,
                rounded corners=1mm,
                minimum size=6mm,
                %border
                thick,
            },
            node distance=10mm
            ]
            \node(wadl)[node]{WADL-Datei};
            \node(xsd1)[node,below left=of wadl]{XSD-Datei};
            \node(...)[dummy,below= of wadl]{\ldots};
            \node(xsd3)[node,below right=of wadl]{XSD-Datei};
            \node(test)[node,right=of wadl]{test};

            \path(wadl) edge[->] (test);
        \end{tikzpicture}   
    \end{center}
    \caption{Codegeneratorsystem}
    \label{fig:codegeneratorsystem}
\end{figure}

Which produces this result:

Result

I'm always amazed how fast i get an answer here :) The tikz manual seems to be a bit misleading, because \usetikzlibrary{positioning} is mentioned only one time in chapter 16. — klingt.net, Jun 18 '13 at 15:00
While I don’t know OP’s expectation of the diagram, one can left-align the test and the XSD-Datei node by using node distance=10mm and 10mm, this changes the behavior of the combines keys like below right. — Qrrbrbirlbel, Jun 18 '13 at 16:18

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 18 '13 at 14:59

6

Just add

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

to your preamble and change your usage of positioning to:

\node(wadl)[node]{WADL-Datei};
\node(xsd1)[node,below left = of wadl]{XSD-Datei};
\node(...)[dummy,below = of wadl]{\ldots};
\node(xsd3)[node,below right = of wadl]{XSD-Datei};
\node(test)[node,right = of wadl]{test};

edited Jun 18 '13 at 14:59

Claudio Fiandrino

63,575

answered Jun 18 '13 at 14:55

Kynes

608

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 18 '13 at 15:34

1

An other option

    \node(wadl)[node]{WADL-Datei};
    \node(xsd1)[node,below left=10pt and 10pt of wadl ]{XSD-Datei};
    \node(...)[dummy,below of=wadl]{\ldots};
    \node(xsd3)[node,below right=10pt and 10pt of wadl]{XSD-Datei};
    \node(test)[node,right=10pt of wadl]{test};
    \path(wadl) edge[->] (test);

enter image description here

answered Jun 18 '13 at 15:34

Arianna Angeletti

1,864

I dont think that this is a real option, because (semi-)manual positioning of nodes is towards the intentions to use tikz/pgf for graphics creation. – klingt.net Jul 04 '13 at 12:11

Overlapping nodes in tikz

3 Answers3

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