# Using brackets as delimiters for matrix in TikZ-PGF Matrix Library

The TikZ-PGF manual is clear that for the matrix library, the delimiters are parentheses and braces:

Delimiters are parentheses or braces to the left and right of a formula or a matrix.

I would like to use brackets as delimiters for a matrix of math nodes. I have tried \left[ and \right] but they do not work.

Is there any way to get brackets as delimiters for a matrix of math nodes?

Thanks.

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Use {[} as the argument for left delimiter, and similar for the right.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\matrix [matrix of math nodes,left delimiter={[},right delimiter={]}]
{
a_8 & a_1 & a_6 \\
a_3 & a_5 & a_7 \\
a_4 & a_9 & a_2 \\
};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The matrix was copied directly from the pgf manual (section 38.3 Delimiters), only the delimiters changed. The reason you have to put the braces there is, I suspect, that the delimiter specification is placed within a set of brackets, and you therefore have to separate the delimiter brackets from the brackets for the matrix options.

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It works :-) Thanks! –  chandra Jun 8 '11 at 15:15

Yes Torbjorn T. is right, there is a problem with the brackets. You need to hide the bracket in tex group {...} but another solution is to write right delimiter=\rbrack,left delimiter= \lbrack

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Thanks, @Altermundus. It too works. In my file, I needed to have [left delimiter=\lbrack, right delimiter=\rbrack ]. Note the space after \rbrack. –  chandra Jun 10 '11 at 4:19