# How do I draw a little red square to label my right triangle?

The sample code:

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw  ( 0 , 0 ) coordinate (A)
-- ( 4 , 0 ) coordinate (C)
-- ( 0 , 3 ) coordinate (B)
-- (0,    0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The figure:

I would like to use a box in the lower left angle of the triangle to indicate a right angle.

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Hi Stuart, welcome to the site! There's been a similar question before: Insertion of perpendicular symbol at intersection of two perpendicular lines –  Jake Jan 16 '14 at 8:57
Excellent, very helpful link. Exactly what I was looking for. –  StuartRCarter Jan 16 '14 at 9:16

For this simple case, you can just draw a square at (A):

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt]{standalone}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw  ( 0 , 0 ) coordinate (A)
-- ( 4 , 0 ) coordinate (C)
-- ( 0 , 3 ) coordinate (B)
-- (0,  0);
\draw [fill=red](A) rectangle ++(0.5,0.5) node[above right]{$90^\circ$};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


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To make it a little more general you could use relative coordinates, i.e. \draw [fill=red](A) rectangle ++(0.5,0.5). –  Torbjørn T. Jan 16 '14 at 12:59
@TorbjørnT. Good point, Thanks and edited. :) –  Harish Kumar Jan 16 '14 at 13:03

With the help of the new library angles of TikZ 3.0.0 and a small patch, it is possible to get:

thanks to:

\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw  ( 0 , 0 ) coordinate (A)
-- ( 4 , 0 ) coordinate (C)
-- ( 0 , 3 ) coordinate (B)
-- ( 0 , 0 )
pic [draw,blue,thick,angle radius=0.5cm]  {squared angle = A--C--B}
pic [draw,red,thick,angle radius=0.5cm]   {squared angle = C--A--B}
pic [draw,green,thick,angle radius=0.5cm] {squared angle = C--B--A};
;
\end{tikzpicture}


The complete code:

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{angles}

\makeatletter
\tikzset{
pics/squared angle/.style = {
setup code  = \tikz@lib@angle@parse#1\pgf@stop,
background code = \tikz@lib@angle@background#1\pgf@stop,
foreground code = \tikz@lib@squaredangle@foreground#1\pgf@stop,
},
pics/squared angle/.default=A--B--C,
angle eccentricity/.initial=.6,
}

\def\tikz@lib@squaredangle@foreground#1--#2--#3\pgf@stop{%
\path [name prefix ..] [pic actions]
|-
\ifx\tikzpictext\relax\else%
\def\pgf@temp{\node()[name prefix
..,at={([shift={({.5*\tikz@start@angle@temp+.5*\tikz@end@angle@temp}:\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/angle
\expandafter\pgf@temp\expandafter[\tikzpictextoptions]{\tikzpictext};%
\fi
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw  ( 0 , 0 ) coordinate (A)
-- ( 4 , 0 ) coordinate (C)
-- ( 0 , 3 ) coordinate (B)
-- ( 0 , 0 )
pic [draw,blue,thick,angle radius=0.5cm]  {squared angle = A--C--B}
pic [draw,red,thick,angle radius=0.5cm]   {squared angle = C--A--B}
pic [draw,green,thick,angle radius=0.5cm] {squared angle = C--B--A};
;
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The desired output seems to have the box filled in red as well as a label, hence let's use the quotes library:

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{angles,quotes}

\makeatletter
\tikzset{
pics/squared angle/.style = {
setup code  = \tikz@lib@angle@parse#1\pgf@stop,
background code = \tikz@lib@angle@background#1\pgf@stop,
foreground code = \tikz@lib@squaredangle@foreground#1\pgf@stop,
},
pics/squared angle/.default=A--B--C,
angle eccentricity/.initial=.6,
}

\def\tikz@lib@squaredangle@foreground#1--#2--#3\pgf@stop{%
\path [name prefix ..] [pic actions]
|-
\ifx\tikzpictext\relax\else%
\def\pgf@temp{\node()[name prefix
..,at={([shift={({.5*\tikz@start@angle@temp+.5*\tikz@end@angle@temp}:\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/angle
\expandafter\pgf@temp\expandafter[\tikzpictextoptions]{\tikzpictext};%
\fi
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw  ( 0 , 0 ) coordinate (A)
-- ( 4 , 0 ) coordinate (C)
-- ( 0 , 3 ) coordinate (B)
-- ( 0 , 0 )
"$90^\circ$" {black,font=\footnotesize}]   {squared angle = C--A--B}
;
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The result:

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"Small patch" is the understatement of the day. –  Thorsten Donig Jan 16 '14 at 9:32
@ThorstenDonig: a suggestion: make a diff of the original library; the change concerns only two lines of code. –  Claudio Fiandrino Jan 16 '14 at 9:35
Can this be made to work when the sides are not axis-aligned? –  Neil G Feb 10 '14 at 4:45
@NeilG: of course it should be possible, but very complex. Basically, you have to change the |- in ([shift={(\tikz@start@angle@temp:\tikz@lib@angle@rad pt)}]#2.center) |- so that the first part of the path would be orthogonal to the base line of the triangle. –  Claudio Fiandrino Feb 10 '14 at 7:34
ok thank you... –  Neil G Feb 10 '14 at 7:41

This is an approach simplified by »tkz-euclide«, which is mentioned indirectly in the comment to your question. Wherever the points are located that define the triangle, the right angle will be marked automatically.

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{tkz-euclide}
\usetkzobj{all}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\tkzDefPoint(0,0){A}
\tkzDefPoint(0,3){B}
\tkzDefPoint(4,0){C}
\tkzMarkRightAngle[draw=red,fill=red](B,A,C)
\tkzDrawPolygon(A,B,C)
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


For details please refer to the package manual, which is unfortunately only available in French.

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This is how. Take the (A) as your reference point. Then (1) yshift to move the starting point up a little; (2) xshift to determine the end point; (3) connect these two points using -| (going horizontally and then vertically to the end point.)

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw  ( 0 , 0 ) coordinate (A)
-- ( 4 , 0 ) coordinate (C)
-- ( 0 , 3 ) coordinate (B)
-- (0,  0);
%\draw [red]([yshift=0.5cm]A) -| node[above right]{$90^\circ$}; % generates red line
\draw [fill=red]([yshift=0.5cm]A) -| node[above right]{$90^\circ$} ([xshift=0.5cm]A)
-- (A) -- cycle ;   % if path is used, the square becomes invisible.
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

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How could one label the vertices, please? (Say by a letter X) –  Abhimanyu Arora Jan 16 '14 at 9:03
Is there a way to use a simple command, rather than drawing it? In my more complicated figures the triangles are rotated and drawing is a hassle, especially if I want to go back and change anything. –  StuartRCarter Jan 16 '14 at 9:03
@AbhimanyuArora -- Use node technique as shown here\draw ([yshift=0.5cm]A) -| node[above right]{$90^\circ$} ([xshift=0.5cm]A){}; Same idea applies to the triangle tips. –  Jesse Jan 16 '14 at 9:07
@StuartRCarter -- Please refer to Jake's comment and take a look, to see if his 3-point command is what you need. –  Jesse Jan 16 '14 at 9:16

With PSTricks.

\documentclass[pstricks,border=12pt,12pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{pst-eucl}
\begin{document}
\begin{pspicture}(6,6)
\pstGeonode[CurveType=polygon,PosAngle={-90,0,90}](1,1){A}(5,1){B}(1,5){C}
\pstRightAngle[fillstyle=solid,fillcolor=red]{B}{A}{C}
\end{pspicture}
\end{document}


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