Draw consecutive arrows with TikZ

Question

In this question the OP needs to draw with a single line of code a series of arrows and labeled nodes.

Let's instead assume that a single uniform line from (0,0) to (10,0) has to be drawn; the dash arrow -| must be placed in positions (2,0), (7,0) and another type of arrow -> at the right end of the line. This is to realize a coordinate-x axis with a vertical dash only in the specified abscissa points.

\documentclass[tikz,border=5pt]{standalone}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}

\node (a) at (0,0) {};
\node (b) at (2,0) {};
\node (c) at (7,0) {};
\node (d) at (10,0) {};

\draw [-|] (a) edge (b) (b) edge (c) (c) edge (d);

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

This is the solution provided by the linked question: the line is stopped, with blank spaces, at every node.

Even before considering the ending arrow, ->, if I try

\draw [-|] (0,0) edge (2,0) edge (7,0) edge (10,0);

a single dash before the beginning of the line appears (zoom to see it) and it is undesired.

How to realize a continuous drawned line with -| at the specified positions, ending with ->, and possibly with a single line of code? (If a solution is available even without defining the nodes, it is ok: they are not strictly needed here).

Answer 1

If you use \coordinate instead of \node, you won't get the gaps. And you can set different arrow tips for the different edges, so try

\draw (a) edge[-|] (b)  edge[-|] (c)  edge[->] (d);

I added a markings version as well, for reference.

\documentclass[tikz,border=5pt]{standalone}    
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}

\coordinate (a) at (0,0);
\coordinate (b) at (2,0);
\coordinate (c) at (7,0);
\coordinate (d) at (10,0);

\draw (a) edge[-|] (b)  edge[-|] (c)  edge[->] (d);

\end{tikzpicture}

\begin{tikzpicture}[
 decoration={markings,
             mark=at position 0.2 with \arrow{|},
             mark=at position 0.7 with \arrow{|}}
]
\coordinate (a) at (0,0);
\coordinate (d) at (10,0);

\draw [->,postaction={decorate}] (0,0) -- (10,0);

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Answer 2

There is a feature of Metapost that lets you do this, but (as far as I know) there's no such thing in TikZ. The construction subpath (a,b) of p gives you a path from "time" a on path p to time b on path p. Time (more or less) equates to the distance along the path in terms of the number of points used to define it. So a single segment of path will have point 0 at one end and point 1 at the other. You can use it like this:

\RequirePackage{luatex85}
\documentclass[border=5mm]{standalone}
\usepackage{luamplib}
\begin{document}
\mplibtextextlabel{enable}
\begin{mplibcode}
beginfig(1);
    path a;
    a = origin -- (10cm, 0);
    draw a withcolor 3/4 white;
    drawarrow subpath (.15, .25) of a; 
    drawarrow subpath (.65, .75) of a;
    drawarrow subpath (.9, 1) of a;
endfig;
\end{mplibcode}
\end{document}

(Compile with lualatex or adapt for plain MP). This produces:

(I've only drawn the grey line to show you the path...)

The nice thing about this is that it works with arbitrary paths. So if you wanted a path with a bit of a wave, you could redefine the path like this:

a = origin {dir 15} .. {dir 15} (10cm, 0);

and then you would get the same arrows, but now following a curved path:

You can make the arrows as long as you need or even contiguous:

\RequirePackage{luatex85}
\documentclass[border=5mm]{standalone}
\usepackage{luamplib}
\begin{document}
\mplibtextextlabel{enable}
\begin{mplibcode}
beginfig(1);
    path a;
    a = origin {dir 15} .. {dir 15} (10cm, 0);
    drawarrow subpath (0, .2) of a; 
    drawarrow subpath (.2, .7) of a;
    drawarrow subpath (.7, 1) of a;
endfig;
\end{mplibcode}
\end{document}

Answer 3

\documentclass[border=6pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgf,tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[line cap=round,line join=round,>=triangle 45,x=1cm,y=1cm]\
clip(-3,-10) rectangle (12,12);
\draw [->,line width=2pt] (0,0) -- (2,0);\draw [->,line width=2pt] (2,0) -- (4,0);
\draw [->,line width=2pt] (4,0) -- (6,0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}