# Shifting a line joining nodes in TikZ

Consider these squared nodes:

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
\end{tikzpicture}


I'd like to link them with two offset lines. If A and B were two numeric coordinates, I could do it as simply as that:

\draw [xshift=1em]  (0,0) -- (0,-2);
\draw [xshift=-1em] (0,0) -- (0,-2);


Unfortunately this code doesn't shift the line at all:

\draw [xshift=1em] (A) --(B);


After trial and error, I found I can to do this like so:

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
\draw ([xshift=1em]A.south) -- ([xshift=1em]B.north);
\draw ([xshift=-1em]A.south) -- ([xshift=-1em]B.north);
\end{tikzpicture}


I have to set the anchor and shift every point. It seems to much for such a simple task.

Can you suggest a better way?

Cheers.

-

Here is a solution via double. I superimposed dashed lines to compare your solution (black) to mine (red).

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[line width=1pt]
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
% method via double
\draw[red,double=white,double distance=2em-\pgflinewidth] (A) -- (B);
\draw[dashed] ([xshift=1em]A.south) -- ([xshift=1em]B.north);
\draw[dashed] ([xshift=-1em]A.south) -- ([xshift=-1em]B.north);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


## Triple variation

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}

\tikzset{
triple/.style={
double=white,double distance=2em-\pgflinewidth,
postaction={draw},
},
}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[line width=1pt]
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
% method via triple
\draw[red,triple] (A) -- (B);
\draw[dashed] ([xshift=1em]A.south) -- ([xshift=1em]B.north);
\draw[dashed] ([xshift=-1em]A.south) -- ([xshift=-1em]B.north);
\draw[dashed] (A) -- (B);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

-
@HarishKumar we can define a triple style. :-) –  Paul Gaborit Jan 15 at 1:54
That will be a value addition (with a note on how to make it general -- 4, 5 ...) :-) –  Harish Kumar Jan 15 at 1:57
+1, But 4 or 5 lines? I am greedy ;-) –  Harish Kumar Jan 15 at 2:19

The problem comes from the fact that the fixed node or coordinate values are immune to later transformations. For example, scale=3 would also not work. Hence, the xshift works if the given coordinates are not fixed to a node or a coordinate i.e. something like (3,4) would work.

If the path that you draw is not related to the bounding box of the figure you can enforce the shift at the low level drawing because the following does not influence the bounding box.

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
\draw[transform canvas={xshift=1em}] (A) -- (B);
\end{tikzpicture}


-
You can't apply this solution to circular nodes... –  Paul Gaborit Jan 15 at 1:42
@PaulGaborit Indeed that is also a problem. However then it's not just a shift but also a stretch. –  percusse Jan 15 at 1:42
To me, for squared nodes, this is the best solution: simple and readable. For circle-like nodes, thumbs up for the angle approach of @Gonzalo Medina, first because it works, second because it is natural to reason in angle terms for circles. –  antonio Jan 15 at 12:53

One possibility:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
\draw (A.215) -- (B.145);
\draw (A.325) -- (B.35);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}


And another one, using this time the perpendicular coordinate system, so only two angles are necessary:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node [draw] (A) at (0,0) {demo text};
\node [draw] (B) at (0,-2) {demo text};
\draw (A.215) -- (A.215|-B.north);
\draw (A.325) -- (A.325|-B.north);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

-
+1; IMHO, it's the better solution! –  Paul Gaborit Jan 15 at 1:55
I could not find any coordinate system in the manual that uses this syntax. Maybe you could briefly state what (A.215) means here? –  Alexander Jan 15 at 12:17
For squared nodes I prefer the "transform canvas" of percusse, but for circle-like ones this makes a lot of sense. @Alexander: read "13.2.3 Node Coordinate System" on manual v.2.10 ("/tikz/cs/angle=<degrees>" and the shortcuts at the end of section). –  antonio Jan 15 at 13:04