Twist a single line matrix in TikZ

Question

I have a single line matrix made with TikZ:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node [matrix,fill=white!20,draw=blue] (my matrix) at (3,2)
{
\node(a) {40}; & \node{AE}; & \node{B0}; & \node(b) {05}; & \node(b) {05};\\
};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Is there a way to "twist" this matrix along a curve (I would like to illustrate something like a flow ...) and to "open it" at both ends?

Answer 1

¡Viva la Answering the unanswered movement !

I have written a simple code demonstrating the detail in my comment. The details are given in the manual section 30.6 (version 2.10)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix,decorations.text}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw[style=help lines,opacity=0.3] (-2,-1) grid[step=1cm] (4,5);
\matrix [fill=white!20,draw=blue,matrix of nodes] (my matrix) {40 & AE & B0 & 05 & 05 \\};
\draw[decoration={raise=-1.2mm,
                    text along path,
                    text align={center,left indent=2.5cm},
                    text={40 AE B0 05 05},
                    %
                },
                postaction={decorate},
                double,
                double distance=5mm,
                blue] (2,0) -- (2,4) -- (0.5,1.5) -- ++(10:3cm);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Notice that the text might get weird while trying hard to follow the curve so use responsibly. I think I overdid this when I was testing out different options but anyway here is an image with some further examples: