tikz \savebox only showing part of image

Question

I can't get tikz to show the whole image created by using \showbox. I think it is a node issue and have tried using a scope and using local bounding box but that doesn't work either. I have posted the code below as well.

For the record I started using the answers provided in the following post to get to where I am now. How to get consistent positioning for a node with \usebox containing a \tikzpicture.

For the record I am attempting to do this because I need to use the image on a chain, but draw different lines on top of it as well. but first need to be able to repeat this multiple times. Plus I may be using this same image in other tikz pictures/drawings as well.

CODE

\documentclass[tikz,border=0pt]{standalone}
% Helpful resources
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/37823/how-to-get-consistent-positioning-for-a-node-with-usebox-containing-a-tikzpict
% general packages or settings
\usetikzlibrary{calc,positioning,arrows,scopes,shapes,chains,matrix,fit,quotes,decorations.pathmorphing,backgrounds,patterns,shadings}
\tikzset{
    %general shapes
    unburn/.style={circle, draw=black,minimum size=0.2cm},
    burn/.style={circle, draw=black,minimum size=0.2cm,pattern=crosshatch},
    burning/.style={circle, draw=black,minimum size=0.2cm,pattern=dots},
    every join/.style={-latex}
}
%custom nodes
\newcommand{\chamber}[1]{
\begin{scope}[local bounding box=#1]
    %draw combustion chamber
    %outer coordinates of chamber
    \coordinate (p1) at (0,0);
    \coordinate (p2) at (0,4);
    \coordinate (p3) at ($(p2)+(30:2)$);
    \coordinate (p4) at ($(p3)+(2,0)$);
    \coordinate (p5) at ($(p4)+(-30:2)$);
    \coordinate (p6) at ($(p5)+(0,-4)$);

    %additional coordinates for reference
    \coordinate (p7) at ($(p1)!0.5!(p6)$); %middle point at the bottom of the chamber
    \coordinate (p8) at ($(p3)!0.5!(p4)$); %middle point at top of chamber

    %draw cylinder
    \draw[very thick] (p1)--(p2)--(p3)--(p4)--(p5)--(p6);
    %draw piston
    \filldraw[fill=gray!60,very thick] (p1)+(0.2,0) rectangle ++($(p6)+(-0.2,1.8)$);
    \filldraw[fill=white,very thick] ($(p7)+(0,0.9)$) circle (0.26);

    %draw spark plug
    \filldraw[fill=gray!60] ($(p8)+(-0.12,-0.8)$) rectangle ($(p8)+(0.12,0)$);
    \filldraw[fill=gray!60] ($(p8)+(-0.06,-0.8)$) rectangle ($(p8)+(0.06,-1)$);
    \draw[semithick] ($(p8)+(0.18,0)$) |- ($(p8)+(-0.12,-1.08)$);



\end{scope}
}
\newsavebox{\manychamber}
\savebox{\manychamber}{%
    \begin{tikzpicture}
    \chamber{};
    \end{tikzpicture}%
}
\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}%[start chain=going below]
        \pgfmathsetseed{4} %get same random decorations repeated
        \def\ht{4}; %total height of chamber
        \def\cmtopt{28.45274} %cm to pt conversion
        \node at (0,0){\usebox{\manychamber}};
    %\draw[help lines,step=0.05cm,opacity=0.2] (current bounding box.south west) grid (current bounding box.north east);

\end{tikzpicture}



\end{document}

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 13 '21 at 11:10

The culprit is the following line:

\def\ht{4}; %total height of chamber

The command \ht is an important TeX command for the height of a box. It is used in various places in LaTeX and TikZ.

To detect this kind of accident, LaTeX provides \newcommand. The equivalent line with \newcommand:

\newcommand*{\ht}{4}

And LaTeX detects the accident and raises an error message:

! LaTeX Error: Command \ht already defined.
               Or name \end... illegal, see p.192 of the manual.

PS: The star form \newcommand* uses \def, \newcommand without star uses \long\def and allows arguments with paragraphs (\par tokens/empty lines). Since the macro does not have arguments, the difference does not matter here.

tikz \savebox only showing part of image

CODE

1 Answers1