Diagrams with coloured boxes and arrows

Question

I am trying to do the following diagram but seems that I can't understand the TikZ package:

How can i do it?

Im using the following code:

\usepackage{tikz}

\usetikzlibrary{arrows, decorations.markings}
      % for double arrows a la chef
      % adapt line thickness and line width, if needed
      \tikzstyle{vecArrow} = [thick, decoration={markings,mark=at position
      1 with {\arrow[semithick]{open triangle 60}}},
      double distance=1.4pt, shorten >= 5.5pt,
      preaction = {decorate},
      postaction = {draw,line width=1.4pt, white,shorten >= 4.5pt}]
     \tikzstyle{innerWhite} = [semithick, white,line width=1.4pt, shorten >= 4.5pt]


\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\matrix [column sep=7mm, row sep=5mm] {
  \node (a) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Controlador de Solicitudes}; &
  \node (b) [draw, shape=rectanble] {Receptor Satelital}; &
  \node (c) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Decodificador}; \\
  \node (d) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Almacenamiento de Informacion}; \\
  \node (e) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Transmisor con GPRS}; \\
  \node (f) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Servidor Web}; \\
  \node (g) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Interfaz Web}; \\
  \node (h) [draw, shape=rectangle] {Autentificacion}; \\

};
\draw[->, thick] (a) -- (b);
\draw[->, thick] (b) -- (c);
\draw[->, thick] (c) -- (d);
\draw[->, thick] (d) -- (e);
\draw[->, thick] (e) -- (f);
\draw[->, thick] (f) -- (g);
\draw[->, thick] (g) -- (h);
\draw[->, thick] (h) -- (f);
\draw[->, thick] (a) -- (e);
\draw[->, thick] (e) -- (a);
\end{tikzpicture}

Answer 1

On the one hand, TikZ is very powerful and comprehensive, on the other hand, it is very hard to find solutions for concrete tasks. In addition, there are often many ways to realize graphics.

I tried to use you existing code and added the code you need to draw the given graphic.

Most things should be clear. Maybe I am wrong, but it seems that you don't have understood how to place content into the matrix. I hope this gets clearer now.

Code

\begin{tikzpicture}

\definecolor{blue1}{HTML}{6095C9}
\definecolor{blue2}{HTML}{55779A}

\matrix [column sep=10mm, row sep=8mm, every node/.style={
    shape=rectangle,
    text width=2.75cm,
    minimum height=1.75cm,
    text centered,
    font=\sffamily\small,
    very thick,
    color=white,
    draw=blue2,
    fill=blue1,
}] {
  \node (a1) {Controlador de solicitudes}; &
  \node (a2) {Receptor Satelital}; &
  \node (a3) {Alimentatión Inteligente}; \\
  &
  \node (b2) {Decodificador desde NMAE a algo}; &
  \node (b3) {Interfaz Web}; \\
  &
  \node (c2) {Almacenamiento de Informacion}; &
  \node[xshift=15mm] (c3) {Autorizar y Autentificar}; \\
  &
  \node (d2) {Transmisor con GMS/GPRS}; &
  \node (d3) {Servidor Web}; \\
};

\begin{scope}[->, very thick, blue1]
  \draw (a1) -- (a2);
  \draw ([xshift=3mm]a1.south) |- ([yshift=3mm]d2.west);
  \draw (a2) -- (b2);
  \draw (b2) -- (c2);
  \draw (c2) -- (d2);
  \draw ([yshift=-3mm]d2.west) -| ([xshift=-3mm]a1.south);
  \draw[-, dashed] (d2) -- (d3);
  \draw ([xshift=5mm]b3.south) -- ([xshift=-10mm]c3.north);
  \draw ([xshift=-10mm]c3.south) -- ([xshift=5mm]d3.north);
  \draw ([xshift=-5mm]d3.north) -- ([xshift=-5mm]b3.south);
\end{scope}

\end{tikzpicture}

Graphic

Answer 2

And just for comparison, here is a version in Metapost, using the boxes library, as described in Drawing Boxes with Metapost. The main item of interest here is how to get the boxes drawn with white text on a blue background: you can't use the provided drawboxed command, because this does not let you specify a colour, so I've used the bpath and pic commands to get at the box outlines and contents, respectively.

prologues := 3;
outputtemplate := "%j%c.eps";
% load the boxes library 
input boxes;

% a little bit of plain TeX to wrap text in the boxes
verbatimtex
\def\wrap#1{\let\\\cr\font\sf=cmss10\vbox{\halign{\hfil\strut\sf ##\hfil\cr#1\crcr}}}
etex

beginfig(1);
% define all the box names and text
boxit.con(btex \wrap{Controlador de\\solicitudes} etex);
boxit.rec(btex \wrap{Receptor\\Satellital} etex);
boxit.dec(btex \wrap{Decodifcar desde\\NMEA a algo} etex);
boxit.alm(btex \wrap{Almacenar\\Informaci\'on} etex);
boxit.trx(btex \wrap{Transmisor con\\GMS/GPRS} etex);
boxit.ali(btex \wrap{Alimentaci\'on\\Intellegente} etex);
boxit.inw(btex \wrap{Interfaz Web} etex);
boxit.aya(btex \wrap{Autorizar y\\Autentificar} etex);
boxit.svw(btex \wrap{Servidor Web} etex);

% position the centres relative to each other
con.c + 140 right = rec.c;
rec.c +  80 down  = dec.c;
dec.c +  80 down  = alm.c;
alm.c +  80 down  = trx.c;

con.c + 290 right = ali.c;
ali.c +  80 down  = inw.c;
inw.c +  80 down  = aya.w;
aya.w +  80 down  = svw.c;

% best guess at the required colors
color mid_blue, dark_blue;
mid_blue  = (79/255, 129/255, 189/255); 
dark_blue = (56/255,  93/255, 138/255);

% draw the boxes with blue background and white text
forsuffixes $=con,rec,dec,alm,trx,ali,inw,aya,svw:
  $.ne-$.sw = (89,55); % make them all the same size
  fill bpath $ withcolor mid_blue;
  draw pic   $ withcolor .95white;
  draw bpath $ withcolor dark_blue;
endfor

% draw the lines
drawoptions(withcolor mid_blue);
drawarrow con.e -- rec.w;
drawarrow rec.s -- dec.n;
drawarrow dec.s -- alm.n;
drawarrow alm.s -- trx.n;

z1 = (xpart con.c, ypart trx.c);
drawarrow con.s + 5 right -- z1 + (5,5) -- trx.w + 5 up;
drawarrow trx.w + 5 down  -- z1 - (5,5) -- con.s + 5 left;

draw trx.e -- svw.w dashed evenly;

drawarrow (svw.n -- inw.s)  shifted 10 left;
drawarrow (inw.s -- aya.nw) shifted 10 right;
drawarrow (aya.sw -- svw.n) shifted 10 right;

% draw a rounded frame 
drawoptions(dashed evenly scaled .8 withcolor dark_blue);
draw quartercircle scaled 1cm rotated   0 shifted urcorner currentpicture 
  -- quartercircle scaled 1cm rotated  90 shifted ulcorner currentpicture 
  -- quartercircle scaled 1cm rotated 180 shifted llcorner currentpicture 
  -- quartercircle scaled 1cm rotated 270 shifted lrcorner currentpicture 
  -- cycle ;

endfig;
end.