Fill Between

Introduction

The \nskFillBetween command allows you to visually fill the area between two elements—such as blocks or coordinates—in your Neural Sketch diagrams. It is particularly useful for emphasizing relationships, highlighting regions, or simply enhancing visual clarity.

Usage

\nskFillBetween[
  from=<source>,
  to=<target>,
  fill=<color>,
  draw=<border-color>,
  opacity=<opacity>,
  edge=<straight|curved>,
  orientation=<vertical|horizontal>,
  corner-offset=<dimension>
]

Parameter Overview

Parameter	Description	Default
`from`	ID of the first block or coordinate	required
`to`	ID of the second block or coordinate	required
`fill`	Fill color between elements	transparent
`draw`	Border color of the filled area	none
`opacity`	Opacity of the filled area (`0`–`1`)	`1`
`edge`	Determines if edges are `straight` or `curved`	`straight`
`orientation`	Direction of filling: `vertical` or `horizontal`	`vertical`
`corner-offset`	Offset to adjust the corner alignment (straight edge)	`0mm`

Examples

Straight vs. Curved Edges

Here’s an illustrative example showcasing both straight and curved fills:

% Straight Edges
\nskContainer[
  text-north=Straight,
  border-type=dashed,
  fill=nskMainAccent!20,
  border-color=nskMainAccent
]{
  \nskBlock[id=ablock, text-center={hello}, width=2cm, height=1cm]
  \nskBlock[id=bblock, text-center={hello}, pos={below=.8cm of ablock}]
 
  \nskFillBetween[
    from=ablock, to=bblock,
    fill=blue!20, draw=blue!50, opacity=0.4,
    edge=straight, orientation=vertical
  ]
}

Advanced Example

This advanced use case demonstrates multiple fills, annotations, and coordinate-based fills:

\begin{nskFigure}
  % Main Block
  \nskBlock[id=ba, width=8cm, height=1cm, border-radius=1mm]
  \nskMarkPath[path-width=8cm, skip-first=true, skip-last=true, step=10mm]{(ba.south west)--(ba.south east)}{
    \draw[black] (0,0)--(0,1cm);
  }
 
  % Coordinates for Measures
  \foreach \i in {0,...,8}{
    \nskCoord[id=rat\i, pos={left=0mm of ba.north west}, shift-x=(10mm*\i), shift-y=4mm]
    \nskCoord[id=ra\i, pos={left=0mm of ba.south west}, shift-x=(10mm*\i)]
  }
 
  % Sub-blocks
  \nskBlock[id=rb00, fill=none, width=3cm, height=1cm, pos={above right=-1.3mm and 0mm of ra0}, border-color=none]
  \nskBlock[id=rb01, fill=none, width=3cm, height=1cm, pos={above right=-1.3mm and 0mm of ra5}, border-color=none]
 
  % Lower Block
  \nskBlock[id=bb, width=2cm, height=1cm, pos={below=3cm of ba}, border-radius=1mm]
 
  \nskBlock[id=rb10, fill=none, width=1cm, height=1cm, pos={above right=0cm of bb.south west}, border-color=none]
  \nskBlock[id=rb11, fill=none, width=1cm, height=1cm, pos={above right=0cm and 1cm of bb.south west}, border-color=none]
 
  % Measure Lines
  \nskConnect[from=rat0, to=rat3, arrow-style={Bar-Bar, thick, shorten >=-4pt, shorten <=2pt}]
  \nskConnect[from=rat3, to=rat5, color=nskStrongBlue, arrow-style={Bar-Bar, thick, shorten >=-4pt, shorten <=2pt}]
  \nskConnect[from=rat5, to=rat8, arrow-style={Bar-Bar, thick, shorten >=-4pt, shorten <=2pt}]
 
  % Fill Areas
  \nskFillBetween[from=ba, to=bb, edge=curved, orientation=vertical]
  \nskFillBetween[from=rb00, to=rb10, edge=curved, orientation=vertical]
  \nskFillBetween[from=rb01, to=rb11, edge=curved, orientation=vertical]
 
  % Annotations
  \nskAnnotate[
    pos={right=2cm of ba}, connect-to=ba.east,
    title={Key Observations},
    text={This region represents important metrics.},
    connect-opts={arrow-style={dotted, thick}}
  ]
 
  \nskAnnotate[
    pos={right=5cm of rb11}, connect-to=rb11.east,
    title={Further Analysis},
    text={Highlighting key interactions.},
    connect-opts={arrow-style={dotted, thick}}
  ]
\end{nskFigure}

Best Practices

Use fills judiciously to avoid visual clutter.
Prefer subtle colors and moderate opacity for readability.
Pair fills with annotations to clarify meaning.

Reference

Prop	Type	Default
corner-offset?	`dimension`	`{}`
draw?	`token list`	`nskStrongBlue!50`
edge?	`choice`	`straight`
fill?	`token list`	`nskStrongBlue!20`
from?	`token list`	`{}`
opacity?	`number`	`0.4`
orientation?	`choice`	`vertical`
to?	`token list`	`{}`

Key Takeaway

The \nskFillBetween command provides an effective method to visually emphasize regions and relationships between diagram elements, enhancing both clarity and aesthetics with customizable fills, edges, and orientation controls.

Fill Between

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