coordinates, nodes and arrows in tikz

Question

I like the idea of defining a bunch of coordinates and then creating the desired diagram from them, but now I have the following problem. The MWE below demonstrates it: the arrows connecting the two nodes are partially hidden by the contents of the nodes. I want to only reveal the diagram in stages (via \onslide) which is why I havn't defined the node directly with the coordinate.

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}{MWE}

\begin{tikzpicture}

\foreach \y in {0,1,...,9}
 {
  \coordinate (A\y) at (0,{-1*\y});
  \coordinate (B\y) at (7,{-1*\y});
 }

\onslide<+->{\draw (A0) node{aaaa};}
\onslide<+->{\draw (A1) node{bbbb};}
\onslide<+->{\draw (A2) node{cccc};}
\onslide<+->{\draw[->] (A2)--(B2) node{dddd};}

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{frame}
\end{document}

Answer 1

The easiest way would be to use named node instead of the coordinates that helped you placed the nodes, simply chains and/or our favorite visible on style.

Code A

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}
\begin{frame}{MWE}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach \y in {0,1,...,9}
 {
  \coordinate (A\y) at (0,{-1*\y});
  \coordinate (B\y) at (7,{-1*\y});
 }

\onslide<+->{\node at (A0) {aaaa};}
\onslide<+->{\node at (A1) {bbbb};}
\onslide<+->{\node at (A2) (nA2) {cccc};}
\onslide<+->{\node at (B2) {dddd} edge[<-] (nA2);}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

Code B1

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{chains}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}{MWE}
\begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1cm and 7cm,
                    start chain=going below,
                    on grid]

\onslide<+->{\node[on chain] {aaaa};}
\onslide<+->{\node[on chain] {bbbb};}
\onslide<+->{\node[on chain] (nA2) {cccc};}
\onslide<+->{\node[right=of nA2] {dddd} edge[<-] (nA2);}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

Code B2

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{chains}
\tikzset{
    invisible/.style={opacity=0,text opacity=0},
    visible on/.style={alt={#1{}{invisible}}},
    alt/.code args={<#1>#2#3}{%
      \alt<#1>{\pgfkeysalso{#2}}{\pgfkeysalso{#3}} 
    },
}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}{MWE}
\begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1cm and 7cm,
                    start chain=going below,
                    on grid]

\node[visible on=<+->,on chain] {aaaa};
\node[visible on=<+->,on chain] {bbbb};
\node[visible on=<+->,on chain] (nA2) {cccc};
\path[visible on=<+->] node[right=of nA2] {dddd} edge[<-] (nA2);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{frame}
\end{document}