About

Tree Magic allows to draw beautiful (Tikz) trees within a few seconds by providing a much simpler syntax than the original Tikz library.

For example the tree

is generated by the code:

f(g(a,b),h(c))
highlight[paint=red](g, a, b)

System requirements

• You need to have Haskell (ghc) installed as well as Parsec (called approximately libghc-parsec).

Getting started

• To start Tree Magic, simply write

  %!begin{tree}
  

  and press (alt+enter). This will automatically generate the following code:

  %!begin{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  % 
  %!end{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  

• Trees now can simply be written as terms, for example f(g(a,b),h(c)) for the tree

Then we have

%!begin{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
%f(g(a,b),h(c))
%!end{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}

• We again press (alt+enter) to invoke Tree Magic. Then the corresponding Tikz code is generated and inserted in the document:

  %!begin{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  %f(g(a,b),h(c))
  \node (f) {f}
      child { node (g) {g}
        child { node (a) {a}
      }
        child { node (b) {b}
      }
    }
      child { node (h) {h}
        child { node (c) {c}
      }
    };
  \begin{pgfonlayer}{background}
  \end{pgfonlayer}
  
  %!end{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  

• Here the whole Latex source code of this example:

  \documentclass{article}
  
  \usepackage{tikz}
  \usetikzlibrary{arrows,backgrounds,calc,trees}
  
  \begin{document}
  \thispagestyle{empty}
  
  \begin{tikzpicture}[thick,level distance=12mm,
    paint/.style={very thick,draw=#1!50!black,fill=#1,opacity=.3}]
  %!begin{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  %f(g(a,b),h(c))
  \node (f) {f}
      child { node (g) {g}
        child { node (a) {a}
      }
        child { node (b) {b}
      }
    }
      child { node (h) {h}
        child { node (c) {c}
      }
    };
  \begin{pgfonlayer}{background}
  \end{pgfonlayer}
  
  %!end{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  \end{tikzpicture}
  
  \end{document}
  

Highlighting parts of the tree

• We continue the previous example. To highlight a the nodes {g,a,b}, simply write highlight[paint=red](g, a, b)

  %!begin{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  %f(g(a,b),h(c))
  %highlight[paint=red](g,a,b)
  ... generated code ...
  %!end{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  

  Then press (alt+enter) to invoke Tree Magic, and you obtain the tree:

• Of course we can highlight multiple parts of the tree:

  %!begin{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  %f(g(a,b),h(c))
  %highlight[paint=red](g,a,b)
  %highlight[paint=blue](f,g,h,c,h)
  ... generated code ...
  %!end{tree}{magic:023916255455191981}
  

  Then press (alt+enter) to invoke Tree Magic, and you obtain the tree:

Complex nodes (math mode)

• To create complex nodes (e.g. with mathematical formulas), we can surround the node with braces ('{' and '}') or quotes ('"').

• For example,

  %{$f^2(x)$}({$g_h$}(a,b),{h+3}(c))
  %highlight[paint=red](g_h,a,b)
  %highlight[paint=blue](f^2x,g_h,h+3,c,h+3)
  

  will result in the tree:

• Note the naming of the nodes in the highlight section! You find more on the naming of nodes in the following section.

Node naming

• By default, the names of the nodes are derived from the content of the nodes by removing all symbols '()[]{}\$'. Thus the node $f^2(x)$ will be named f^2x.

• You may use custom names by node:name. For example {$f^2(x)$}:root will assign the name 'root' to the node. Then the code:

  %{$f^2(x)$}:root({$g_h$}(a,b),{h+3}(c))
  %highlight[paint=red](g_h,a,b)
  %highlight[paint=blue](root,g_h,h+3,c,h+3)
  

  results in the same picture as above, but now we use 'root' to refer to '$f^2(x)$' in the highlight section.

• You can use these names to refer to the nodes from Tikz. For example to add an arrow from 'c' to the root, add

  \draw [->,very thick] (c) to[bend right=80] (root);
  

  after the Tree Magic section. This results in:

Tikz options

• You may pass Tikz drawing options to a node via '[options]' after the node name. For example:

  %f[rectangle,fill=green!50,draw=green!50!black](g(a,b),h(c))
  %highlight[paint=red](g,a,b)
  

  will result in:

• We can provide more Tikz options as follows:

  %f([options1] [options2] g [options3](a,b),h(c))
  

  which results in the following options being passed to child 'g':

  ... [options1] child [options2] { node [options3] (g) {g} ...
  

For example:

%f( [] [grow=180] g [rectangle,fill=green!50,draw=green!50!black] (a,b),h(c))

results in the Tikz code:

\node (f) {f}
    []child[grow=180] { node[rectangle,fill=green!50,draw=green!50!black] (g) {g}
      child { node (a) {a}
    }
      child { node (b) {b}
    }
  }
    child { node (h) {h}
      child { node (c) {c}
    }
  };

and the tree: