Align the length of two nodes inside a matrix

Question

I wanted to create a node with vertical and horizontal parts. So after some searching I found that I can achieve this by using a matrix. I tried the code below:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz,listings}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.multipart,matrix}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[->, my shape/.style={
rectangle split, rectangle split parts=#1, draw, anchor=center}]

%transactional descriptor
 \node[matrix, align=center, label=above:transactional descriptor] (up_part) at (7, 0) {
        \node [my shape=4, rectangle split horizontal] (up_line) at (3, 0) 
        {\nodepart{one}\lstinline!start!\nodepart{two}\lstinline!readSet!\nodepart{three}
          \lstinline!writeSet!\nodepart{four}\lstinline!commitTime!}; \\
    };
    \node[matrix, below of=up_part, node distance=0.5cm] (down_part) 
    {
        \node [my shape=2, rectangle split horizontal] (down_line) at (3, 0) 
        {\nodepart{one}\lstinline!overwrittenVersions!\quad\nodepart{two}\lstinline!next!}; \\
   };
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

the problem is that the second node containing 2 parts has not the same width as the the node from above it, as you can see in the picture below: enter image description here

I tried using minimum width or text width but didn't work.

Any ideas how to fix this?

The use of matrix library is not doing actually what you are aiming for since every matrix has one cell. What's the positioning that you are after ultimately? — percusse, Jul 23 '12 at 18:39
@percusse I don't really understand what you area saying? Could you please explain a little more? I just want to have the second line extended so it has the same width as the first one. — foobar, Jul 23 '12 at 18:43
@percusse I don't really care how. I just want them aligned :S. Well, I'm a newbie at tikz, so I don't really understand. But I guess any solution will do — foobar, Jul 23 '12 at 18:56
yes, I want the second line to be stretched to fit the first line. The size of the first line is OK — foobar, Jul 23 '12 at 19:04

score 11 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 10 '17 at 13:47

11

Unless you really need each element to be an actual TikZ node, it might be simpler to use a simple tabular for this:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz,listings}
\usepackage{array}
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\ttfamily}c}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.multipart,matrix}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[->, my shape/.style={
rectangle split, rectangle split parts=#1, draw, anchor=center}]

%transactional descriptor
\node (A) {%
\begin{tabular}{|C|C|C|C|}
\hline
start & readSet & writeSet & commitTime\\
\hline
\multicolumn{3}{|C|}{overwrittenVersions} & next\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

output of code

edited Jun 10 '17 at 13:47

barbara beeton

88,848

answered Jul 23 '12 at 20:09

Alan Munn

218,180

@Alan Munn thanks for answering. I actually need the elements to be nodes as I want to create paths from the next or overwrittenVersions part to other nodes – foobar Jul 24 '12 at 20:09

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 23 '12 at 19:58

9

Something like this?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{chains,calc}

\begin{document}
\usetikzlibrary{chains,calc}
\begin{tikzpicture}[start chain,node distance=0mm,every node/.style={font=\ttfamily,outer sep=0,text height=1.5ex}]
\node [draw,on chain] (a) {start};
\node [draw,on chain] {readSet};
\node [draw,on chain] {writeSet};
\node [draw,on chain] (b) {commitTime};

\node[draw,anchor=north west] at (a.south west) (c) {overwrittenVersions};
\path 
let \p1=(c.east),\p2=(b.east),\n1={(\x2-\x1)} 
in 
node[draw,anchor=west,minimum width=\n1] at (c.east) {next};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

answered Jul 23 '12 at 19:58

percusse

157,807

Thanks! This was what I was looking for. Do you perhaps mind explain all this on chain, anchor ...? Or suggesting what to read in order to understand them? – foobar Jul 24 '12 at 20:13
@equality I have tried to explain the anchor part in this answer: http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/63469/3235 But chains library needs to be introduced from the manual. The manual is actually my only guide for TikZ-related issues (other than the source code itself whenever I can understand) – percusse Jul 24 '12 at 22:42

Align the length of two nodes inside a matrix

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