A question regarding multi-variable \foreach

Question

In TikZ & PGF Manual for Version 2.10-cvs, page 676/880 there is an example as below:

\foreach \x / \y in {1/2,a/b} {``\x\ and \y''}

It is supposed to yield: "1 and 2""a and b". But for me it gives me nothing only a blank page. Do you know the reason?

Answer 1

The reason is that {``\x\ and \y''} is not a valid tikzpicture drawing command, so it yields nothing. You will get the expected output if using it outside the tikzpicture environment.

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\foreach \x / \y in {1/2,a/b} {``\x\ and \y''}

\end{document}

Answer 2

In case that you like to have result of your loop in a tikzpictue, than it should be in some node. For example:

\documentclass[tikz, margin=3mm]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{chains, positioning}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[start chain=going right, node distance=0pt]
\foreach \x / \y in {1/2,a/b} 
{
\node[on chain] {``\x\ and \y''};
}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}