Tikz milsymbs in a matrix, with colours (getting errors)

Question

Am posting two in one as I suspect these may be related. Following on from my previous question, I am putting them in a matrix:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{milsymb}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}

\makeatletter
\protected\def\tikz@fig@main#1{%
  \expandafter\gdef\csname labeltextof@\tikz@fig@name\endcsname{#1}%
  \iftikz@node@is@pic%
    \tikz@node@is@picfalse%
    \tikz@subpicture@handle{#1}%
  \else%
    \tikz@@fig@main#1\egroup%
  \fi}
\makeatother

\newcommand\labeltextof[1]{\csname labeltextof@#1\endcsname}
\newcommand{\aftercolorof}[2]{% #1 is the color, #2 us the node
  \path (#2.center) node[#1] (#2-2) {\labeltextof{#2}};
}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}

\matrix[row sep=2mm, column sep=1mm]{
  \node (nA) {\tikz{\MilLand[faction=friendly,monochrome,echelon=division,main=armoured,fill=green]{}}};
  \node (nA) {\tikz{\MilLand[faction=friendly,monochrome,echelon=division,main=armoured,fill=yellow]{}}};
  &
  \node (nA) {\tikz{\MilLand[faction=friendly,monochrome,echelon=division,main=armoured,fill=green]{}}};
  \node (nA) {\tikz{\MilLand[faction=friendly,monochrome,echelon=division,main=armoured,fill=yellow]{}}};
  \\
};

%\aftercolorof{red}{nA}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

This produces an error at the end of the matrix:

! Undefined control sequence.
<argument> \pgf@matrix@last@nextcell@options 
                                             
l.33 }
      ;
? x

And if I try to remove the inner \tikz command, as suggested in the answer to the linked question, I get another error:

! LaTeX Error: Environment scope undefined.

See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type  H <return>  for immediate help.
 ...                                              
                                                  
l.25 ...elon=division,main=armoured,fill=green]{}}
                                                  ;
? 

There is a third problem also, that the echelon symbol (ie XX for division) is put too far away vertically. This seems to happen only in matrix.

Any ideas anybody?

Answer 1

The commands that milsymb provide seem to be ordinary TikZ drawings, you can just put those in the cells of a matrix.

The package doesn't provide nice interfaces to change various things but in your case it's as easy as using just the ordinary TikZ keys /tikz/color and /tikz/nodes (which is a shortcut to /tikz/every node/.append style).

In the second example, I've used my own definition of /MilSymb/color that forwards its argument to TikZ and its nodes.

Code

% temporary workaround for
% https://github.com/ralphieraccoon/MilSymb/commit/72df32af60b99e4213fdf244e41407de27f8ca0a
\begin{filecontents}{tikzlibraryshapes.Symbols.code.tex}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.symbols}
\end{filecontents}
%
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{milsymb}
\pgfqkeys{/MilSymb}{color/.style={/tikz/color={#1},/tikz/nodes={/tikz/color={#1}}}}
\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\matrix[row sep=2mm, column sep=1mm]{
  \MilLand[faction=friendly, monochrome, echelon=division, main=armoured,
    /tikz/red, /tikz/nodes=red, fill=green]{}
& \MilLand[faction=friendly, monochrome, echelon=division, main=armoured,
    color=red, fill=yellow]{}
\\
  \MilLand[faction=friendly, monochrome, echelon=division,
    main=armoured, fill=green]{}
& \MilLand[faction=friendly, monochrome, echelon=division,
    main=armoured, fill=yellow]{}
\\};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Output

Answer 2

You can easily place the symbols at predefined coordinates using the location key:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{milsymb}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}

\matrix[matrix of nodes, 
    every node/.style={minimum width=1.75cm, minimum height=1.75cm}
] (m) {
  {} & {} \\
  {} & {} \\
};

\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=green] (m-1-1)
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=yellow] (m-1-2)
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=green] (m-2-1)
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=yellow] (m-2-2)

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

---

Assuming that you might wish to change the color of the lines and text as per your other linked question:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{milsymb}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}

\matrix[matrix of nodes, 
    every node/.style={minimum width=1.75cm, minimum height=1.75cm}
] (m) {
  {} & {} \\
  {} & {} \\
};

\begin{scope}
\pgfsetstrokecolor{red}
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=green, red] (m-1-1)
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=yellow, red] (m-1-2)
\end{scope}
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=green] (m-2-1)
\MilLand[faction=friendly, echelon=division, main=armoured, fill=yellow] (m-2-2)

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}