Vertical node spacing

Question

Ok. I'm trying to make the left look like the right. I'm kinda lost here. Suggestions?

tikz word

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage[margin=0.5in]{geometry}
\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{document}

%\input{../tikz-setup.tex}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes, arrows, calc, positioning, matrix }

% Define block styles
\tikzstyle{line}    = [ draw, -triangle 45 ]

\tikzstyle{list}  = [ rectangle, draw,
                        minimum width = 6em                      
                      ]

\tikzstyle{ptr-box}  = [ rectangle, 
                        text width = 8em                      
                      ]

\begin{center}
\begin{tikzpicture}[align = flush center, font = \small]
% Place nodes
    \matrix [matrix of nodes, row sep = 0em] (age)
    {    
    |[list] (free)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (free2)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (pg6)| Page 6 \\    
    |[list] (pg12)| Page 12 \\
    |[list] (pg4)| Page 4 \\
    |[list] (pg8)| Page 8 \\
    };

    \matrix [matrix of nodes, row sep = 0em, 
                 left = of age, 
                 nodes={text width=6em},
                 matrix anchor = north east,
                 ] (ptr) at (age.north west)
    {    
    |[ptr-box, ] (oldest)| \textbf{oldest\_ptr} \\ \tiny{Points to pool of free pages.}  \\
    |[ptr-box] (oldest-valid)| \textbf{oldest\_valid\_ptr} \\ \tiny{Points to oldest vaild cache page, else NULL if cache is empty.}  \\
    |[ptr-box] (newest)|\textbf{newest\_ptr} \\ \tiny{Points to newest vaild cache page.}  \\
    };           

    % Draw edges
    \path [line] (oldest) -- (free);
    \path [line] (oldest-valid) -- (pg6);
    \path [line] (newest) -- (pg8);


\end{tikzpicture}
\end{center}
\end{document}

I updated my answer with another option. – Gonzalo Medina Sep 13 '12 at 22:08 — Gonzalo Medina, Sep 13 '12 at 22:08

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 03 '17 at 13:59

One option would be to use \parboxes for the nodes containing the text:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage[margin=0.5in]{geometry}
\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{document}

%\input{../tikz-setup.tex}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes, arrows, calc, positioning, matrix }

% Define block styles
\tikzstyle{line}    = [ draw, -triangle 45 ]

\tikzstyle{list}  = [ rectangle, draw,
                        minimum width = 6em                      
                      ]

\tikzstyle{ptr-box}  = [ rectangle, 
                        text width = 30em , font=\tiny                     
                      ]

\begin{center}
\begin{tikzpicture}[align = flush center, font = \small]
% Place nodes
    \matrix [matrix of nodes, row sep = 0em] (age)
    {    
    |[list] (free)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (free2)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (pg6)| Page 6 \\    
    |[list] (pg12)| Page 12 \\
    |[list] (pg4)| Page 4 \\
    |[list] (pg8)| Page 8 \\
    };

\node [left=of free,text depth=0ex]  (oldest) {\parbox[t]{8em}{\centering%
  \textbf{oldest\_ptr} \\ \tiny  Points to pool of free pages.}};
\node [left=of pg6,text depth=0ex]  (oldest-valid) {\parbox[t]{8em}{\centering%
  \textbf{oldest\_valid\_ptr} \\ \tiny Points to oldest vaild cache page, else NULL if cache is empty.}};
\node [left=of pg8,text depth=0ex] (newest) {\parbox[t]{8em}{\centering%
  \textbf{newest\_ptr} \\ \tiny Points to newest vaild cache page.}};           

    % Draw edges
    \path [line] (oldest) -- (free);
    \path [line] (oldest-valid) -- (pg6);
    \path [line] (newest) -- (pg8);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{center}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Another option would be to use a style with the appropriate options for the text nodes:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage[margin=0.5in]{geometry}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes, arrows, calc, positioning, matrix }

\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{document}


% Define block styles
\tikzstyle{line}    = [ draw, -triangle 45 ]

\tikzstyle{list}  = [ rectangle, draw,
                        minimum width = 6em                      
                      ]

\tikzstyle{ptr-box}  = [ rectangle, 
                        text width = 30em , font=\tiny                     
                      ]

\begin{center}
\begin{tikzpicture}[align = flush center, font = \small]
% Place nodes
    \matrix [matrix of nodes, row sep = 0em] (age)
    {    
    |[list] (free)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (free2)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (pg6)| Page 6 \\    
    |[list] (pg12)| Page 12 \\
    |[list] (pg4)| Page 4 \\
    |[list] (pg8)| Page 8 \\
    };

\begin{scope}[
mytext/.style={
  align=center, font=\tiny,xshift=-1em,anchor=north east,inner ysep=-1ex}
]
\node [left=of free,mytext]  (oldest) {%
  {\small\bfseries oldest\_ptr} \\ Points to pool of \\ free pages.};
\node [left=of pg6,mytext]  (oldest-valid) {%
  {\small\bfseries oldest\_valid\_ptr} \\ Points to oldest vaild \\ cache page, else NULL if \\ cache is empty.};
\node [left=of pg8,mytext] (newest) {%
  {\small\bfseries newest\_ptr} \\ Points to newest vaild \\ cache page.};           
\end{scope}

    % Draw edges
    \path [line] (oldest.north east) -- (free);
    \path [line] (oldest-valid.north east) -- (pg6);
    \path [line] (newest.north east) -- (pg8);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{center}

\end{document}

enter image description here

By the way, \tiny doesn't receive arguments; it's a declaration.

Rather than using \parbox and \centering, it seems easier to add the options text width=8em and align=center to each node (or via a re-usable style) — Paul Gaborit, Sep 13 '12 at 21:33
@PaulGaborit perhaps it's shorter that way; I'll add it to my answer. — Gonzalo Medina, Sep 13 '12 at 21:45

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:34

Here is a possibility (I modified your example to use \tikzset instead of oldest \tikzstyle: Should \tikzset or \tikzstyle be used to define TikZ styles?):

enter image description here

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}

% \input{../tikz-setup.tex}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes, arrows, calc, positioning, matrix }

% Define block styles
\tikzset{
  line/.style = { draw, -triangle 45 },
  list/.style = { rectangle, draw, minimum width = 6em },
  ptr-box/.style  = { rectangle, text width = 30em , font=\tiny },
  comment/.style = {text width=2.5cm, align=center,inner ysep=0},
  note/.style = {font=\tiny,align=center,text width=2.5cm,inner ysep=0},
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[align=flush center,font=\small]
  % Place nodes
  \matrix [matrix of nodes, row sep = 0em] (age)
  {    
    |[list] (free)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (free2)| Free Page \\    
    |[list] (pg6)| Page 6 \\    
    |[list] (pg12)| Page 12 \\
    |[list] (pg4)| Page 4 \\
    |[list] (pg8)| Page 8 \\
  };

  \node [left=of free, comment]  (oldest) {\textbf{oldest\_ptr}};
  \node [below=1pt of oldest,note]{Points to pool of free pages.};

  \node [left=of pg6, comment]  (oldest-valid) {\textbf{oldest\_valid\_ptr}};
  \node [below=1pt of oldest-valid,note]
  {Points to oldest valid cache page, else NULL if cache is empty};

  \node [left=of pg8,comment] (newest) {\textbf{newest\_ptr}};
  \node [below=1pt of newest,note]{Points to newest vaild cache page.};           

  % Draw edges
  \path [line] (oldest) -- (free);
  \path [line] (oldest-valid) -- (pg6);
  \path [line] (newest) -- (pg8);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Vertical node spacing

2 Answers2