Macro for Mixed Numbers on Number Line TikZ

Question

How might I change this macro to place the mixed numbers underneath the number line?

In this particular example, I'd like 1 1/4, 1 2/4, 1 3/4, 2 1/4, etc.

Dunno if this needs a separate thread, but is there any way the macro could have the option to either include or not include those mixed numbers?

I know this isn't a truly minimal working example, but I think it makes the context much clearer.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

\newcommand{\NL}[5]
{\tikz[xscale=#1,yscale=#2]
 {
 \filldraw[orange] (0,0) rectangle (#5,0.2); %shaded portion of number line
 \draw
  (0,0)--(#3,0) %lower part of x-axis
  (0,0.2)--(#3,0.2); %higher part of x-axis
 \foreach \x in {0,...,#3}
  \node[below] at (\x,-0.2) {\x}; %whole numbers underneath number line
  \pgfmathparse{#3*#4}
 \foreach \x in {0,...,\pgfmathresult} %fractional tick marks and numbers above number line
  {
   \draw (\x/#4,-0.2)--(\x/#4,0.2);
   \node[above] at (\x/#4,0.25) {$\frac{\x}{#4}$};
  }
 \fill[green,opacity=0.75] (#5,0.1) circle[x radius=0.2cm/#1,y radius=0.2cm/#2]; %green dot
 }
}

\begin{document}

Draw and label a number line from 0 to 3 with tick marks at every quarter, emphasizing \(\frac{7}{4}=1\frac{3}{4}\). Show your answer using both a length and a point.

\NL{4}{1.2}{3}{4}{7/4}
%{x-scale}{y-scale}{from 0 to 3}{denominator}{emphasized point}
\end{document}

That code yields this:

Answer 1

Perhaps something like this?

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt,multi]{standalone}
\usepackage{xparse}
% ref: WeCanLearnAnything at http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/267921/macro-for-mixed-numbers-on-number-line-tikz (but I doubt this is the original source)
\NewDocumentCommand\NL { s m m m m m }
{\tikz[xscale=#2,yscale=#3]
 {
 \filldraw[orange] (0,0) rectangle (#6,0.2);% shaded portion of number line
 \draw
  (0,0)--(#4,0)% lower part of x-axis
  (0,0.2)--(#4,0.2);% higher part of x-axis
 \foreach \x in {0,...,#4}
  \node [anchor=mid] at (\x,-0.5) {\x};% whole numbers underneath number line
  \pgfmathparse{#4*#5}
 \foreach \x in {0,...,\pgfmathresult}% fractional tick marks and numbers above number line
  {
   \draw (\x/#5,-0.2)--(\x/#5,0.2);
   \node[above] at (\x/#5,0.25) {$\frac{\x}{#5}$};
   \IfBooleanF {#1}{
     \pgfmathsetmacro\intbit{int(\x/#5)}
     \pgfmathsetmacro\fracbit{int(\x-#5*\intbit)}
     \ifnum\intbit=0\let\intbit\relax\fi
     \ifnum\fracbit=0\else
     \node [anchor=mid] at (\x/#5,-0.5) {$\intbit\frac{\fracbit}{#5}$};
     \fi
   }
  }
 \fill[green,opacity=0.75] (#6,0.1) circle[x radius=0.2cm/#2,y radius=0.2cm/#3];% green dot
 }
}

\begin{document}

\NL{4}{1.2}{3}{4}{7/4}
\NL*{4}{1.2}{3}{4}{7/4}

\end{document}

New Interface

However, I would be tempted to rethink the user interface. It will get hard to remember how many arguments you need and which one is which pretty quickly. Plus, it would be nice to be able to vary some other aspects of the line: the colour of the dot and the fill, the dot's opacity and so on.

To achieve this, you can use a key-value interface. Since you are already using TikZ, using its key management is probably sensible.

I would also configure the commands so that you can include a number line - or several - into a larger picture, and so that you have as much flexibility as possible in setting the keys.

Here's a rough draft which could surely be fine-tuned in various ways:

• \tnl creates a number line within a TikZ picture so \tikz\tnl; will draw the line as a standalone picture;

• number line={<number line settings>} is a TikZ option which can be set in the usual way e.g. \begin{tikzpicture}[number line={<number line settings>}] or \tikzset{number line={<number line settings>}} etc. Default settings are based on your MWE. It sets the various attributes of the number line:

  • fraction=<opt> denominator (4)
  • v scale=<opt> to scale vertically (1.2)
  • h scale=<opt> to scale horizontally (4)
  • max=<opt> highest number (3)
  • number to=<opt> fill line to ({7/4})
  • mixed numbers=<opt> print mixed numbers (false)
  • fill=<opt> fill line colour (orange)
  • dot=<opt> dot colour (green)
  • dot opacity=<opt> dot opacity (.75)

• \NumberLine*[<number line settings>] is intended for use outside a TikZ environment and creates a standalone number line. The starred version does not print the mixed numbers.

First, reproduce the output from the earlier code, just using the defaults, to check the output matches:

\NumberLine

\NumberLine*

A number line with some non-defaults settings:

\NumberLine[
  dot=red,
  dot opacity=.5,
  fill=blue,
  fraction=3,
  number to={2/3},
  h scale=5,
]

Let's change the defaults:

\tikzset{
  number line={
    fraction=5,
    mixed numbers=true,
    number to={8/5},
    h scale=2,
    v scale=1.25,
    max=6,
  }
}

and try combining two number lines into one picture:

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \tnl;
  \begin{scope}[yshift=-30mm]
    \tnl;
  \end{scope}
\end{tikzpicture}

Complete Code:

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt,multi]{standalone}
\usepackage{xparse}
\makeatletter
\newif\ifnl@mixednumbers
\tikzset{% http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/159856/ - Claudio Fiandrino
  number line/.code={
    \tikzset{
      /number line/.cd,%
      #1
    }
  },
  /number line/.cd,
  fraction/.store in=\nl@fraction,
  v scale/.store in=\nl@vscale,
  h scale/.store in=\nl@hscale,
  max/.store in=\nl@max,
  number to/.store in=\nl@numberto,
  mixed numbers/.is if=nl@mixednumbers,
  fill/.store in=\nl@fill,
  dot/.store in=\nl@dot,
  dot opacity/.store in=\nl@dotopacity,
  fraction=4,
  v scale=1.2,
  h scale=4,
  max=3,
  number to={7/4},
  mixed numbers=false,
  fill=orange,
  dot=green,
  dot opacity=.75,
}
\newcommand*\tnl{% modified from ref: WeCanLearnAnything at http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/267921/macro-for-mixed-numbers-on-number-line-tikz (but I doubt this is the original source)
  \begin{scope}[xscale=\nl@hscale,yscale=\nl@vscale]
    \filldraw[\nl@fill] (0,0) rectangle (\nl@numberto,0.2);% shaded portion of number line
    \draw
    (0,0)--(\nl@max,0)% lower part of x-axis
    (0,0.2)--(\nl@max,0.2);% higher part of x-axis
    \foreach \x in {0,...,\nl@max}
      \node [anchor=mid] at (\x,-0.5) {\x};% whole numbers underneath number line
    \pgfmathparse{\nl@max*\nl@fraction}
    \foreach \x in {0,...,\pgfmathresult}% fractional tick marks and numbers above number line
    {
      \draw (\x/\nl@fraction,-0.2)--(\x/\nl@fraction,0.2);
      \node[above] at (\x/\nl@fraction,0.25) {$\frac{\x}{\nl@fraction}$};
      \ifnl@mixednumbers
        \pgfmathsetmacro\intbit{int(\x/\nl@fraction)}
        \pgfmathsetmacro\fracbit{int(\x-\nl@fraction*\intbit)}
        \ifnum\intbit=0\let\intbit\relax\fi
        \ifnum\fracbit=0\else
          \node [anchor=mid] at (\x/\nl@fraction,-0.5) {$\intbit\frac{\fracbit}{\nl@fraction}$};
        \fi
      \fi
    }
    \fill[\nl@dot,opacity=\nl@dotopacity] (\nl@numberto,0.1) circle[x radius=0.2cm/\nl@hscale,y radius=0.2cm/\nl@vscale];% green dot
  \end{scope}}
\NewDocumentCommand \NumberLine { s O {} }{%
  \IfBooleanTF {#1}{%
    \tikz[number line={mixed numbers=false,#2}]\tnl;%
  }{%
    \tikz[number line={mixed numbers=true,#2}]\tnl;%
  }}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\NumberLine

\NumberLine*

\NumberLine[
  dot=red,
  dot opacity=.5,
  fill=blue,
  fraction=3,
  number to={2/3},
  h scale=5,
]

\tikzset{
  number line={
    fraction=5,
    mixed numbers=true,
    number to={8/5},
    h scale=2,
    v scale=1.25,
    max=6,
  }
}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \tnl;
  \begin{scope}[yshift=-30mm]
    \tnl;
  \end{scope}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}