How do I duplicate a dotted path over another?

Question

I need to edit this code so the red dashed line can end up at R4 not R3 as in the following picture .

documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}
 usetikzlibrary{positioning,calc,arrows.meta}
begin{document}
begin{tikzpicture}[bullet/.style={draw,circle,minimum width=3mm,inner 
sep=0pt,
fill=cyan!50}]
node[bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_1$}] (R1){};
node[right=2cm of R1,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_2$}] (R2){};
node[right=2cm of R2,yshift=6mm,bullet,label={[yshift=2mm]above:$R_3$}] (R3) 
 {};
node[right=2cm of R3,yshift=-6mm,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_4$}] 
  (R4){};
  node[right=2cm of R4,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_5$}] (R5){};
foreach X [evaluate=X as Y using {int(X+1)}] in {1,...,4}
{draw[thick,-latex,cyan!50] (RX) -- (RY);}

draw[thick,red,{Circle}-latex,dashed] let p1=($(R2)-(R1)$), p2=($(R3)- 
(R2)$), 
n1={atan2(y1,x1)},n2={atan2(y2,x2)} in 
([yshift=1mm]R1.north) to[out=n1,in=180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm]R2.north) to[out=0,in=n2-180,looseness=0.5] 
  ([yshift=1mm,xshift=-2mm]R3.north);

end{tikzpicture}
      end{document}

Mensch · Accepted Answer

You need to add some code for the red line:

draw[thick,red,{Circle}-latex,dashed] let p1=($(R2)-(R1)$), p2=($(R3)-(R2)$), p3=($(R4)-(R3)$),
n1={atan2(y1,x1)},n2={atan2(y2,x2)},n3={atan2(y3,x3)} in 
([yshift=1mm]R1.north) to[out=n1,in=180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm]R2.north) to[out=0,in=n2-180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm]R3.north) to[out=0,in=n3-180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm,xshift=-2mm]R4.north);

With the complete MWE

documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}

usetikzlibrary{positioning,calc,arrows.meta}

begin{document}
begin{tikzpicture}[bullet/.style={draw,circle,minimum width=3mm,inner sep=0pt,fill=cyan!50}]
node[bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_1$}] (R1){};
node[right=2cm of R1,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_2$}] (R2){};
node[right=2cm of R2,yshift=6mm,bullet,label={[yshift=2mm]above:$R_3$}] (R3) 
 {};
node[right=2cm of R3,yshift=-6mm,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_4$}] 
  (R4){};
  node[right=2cm of R4,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_5$}] (R5){};
foreach X [evaluate=X as Y using {int(X+1)}] in {1,...,4}
{draw[thick,-latex,cyan!50] (RX) -- (RY);}

%draw[thick,red,{Circle}-latex,dashed] let p1=($(R2)-(R1)$), p2=($(R3)-(R2)$), 
draw[thick,red,{Circle}-latex,dashed] let p1=($(R2)-(R1)$), p2=($(R3)-(R2)$), p3=($(R4)-(R3)$),
n1={atan2(y1,x1)},n2={atan2(y2,x2)},n3={atan2(y3,x3)} in 
([yshift=1mm]R1.north) to[out=n1,in=180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm]R2.north) to[out=0,in=n2-180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm]R3.north) to[out=0,in=n3-180,looseness=0.5] 
([yshift=1mm,xshift=-2mm]R4.north);

end{tikzpicture}
end{document}

you get:

AndréC · Answer

Instead of reconstructing the path of the red dotted arrow by clever calculations, you can use the preaction key which allows you to place the path in a temporary scope that you move vertically with transform canvas.

To make it look prettier, I rounded the angles with the rounded key rounded corners=5pt.

path[rounded corners=5pt,preaction={draw,red,thick,{Circle}-latex,
,transform canvas={yshift=3mm}}
] (R1.center)to(R2.center)to(R3.center)to(R4.center);

The result without the rounded corners:

The result with rounded corners and dashed lines:

documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}
 usetikzlibrary{positioning,calc,arrows.meta}
begin{document}
begin{tikzpicture}[bullet/.style={draw,circle,minimum width=3mm,inner 
sep=0pt,
fill=cyan!50}]
node[bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_1$}] (R1){};
node[right=2cm of R1,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_2$}] (R2){};
node[right=2cm of R2,yshift=6mm,bullet,label={[yshift=2mm]above:$R_3$}] (R3) 
 {};
node[right=2cm of R3,yshift=-6mm,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_4$}] 
  (R4){};
  node[right=2cm of R4,bullet,label={[yshift=-2mm]below:$R_5$}] (R5){};
foreach X [evaluate=X as Y using {int(X+1)}] in {1,...,4}
{draw[thick,-latex,cyan!50] (RX) -- (RY);}

path[rounded corners=5pt,preaction={draw,red,dashed,thick,{Circle}-latex,
,transform canvas={yshift=3mm}}
] (R1.center)to(R2.center)to(R3.center)to(R4.center);
  end{tikzpicture}
      end{document}

Zarko · Answer

a variation of nice AndréC answer:

documentclass[tikz,border=3mm]{standalone}
usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,
                chains, 
                positioning}

begin{document}
    begin{tikzpicture}[
node distance = 6mm and 20mm,
  start chain = going right,
   arr/.style = {thick, -Stealth, color=#1},
   dot/.style = {circle, draw, fill=cyan!50,
                 minimum size=3mm, inner sep=0pt,
                 on chain, join=by {arr=cyan!50},
                 node contents={}},
every label/.style = {label distance=2mm, inner sep=0pt}
                        ]
node (R1) [dot,label=below:$R_1$];
node (R2) [dot, right=of R1,label=below:$R_2$];
node (R3) [dot, above right=of R2,label=above:$R_3$];
node (R4) [dot, below right=of R3,label=below:$R_4$];
node (R5) [dot, right=of R4,label=below:$R_5$];

draw[arr=red, densely dashed, rounded corners=4pt,
      {Circle[length=1.6mm]}-Latex, shorten <=-0.8mm,
      transform canvas={yshift=1.5mm}]
      (R1.north) -- (R2.north) -- (R3.north) -- (R4.north);
    end{tikzpicture}
end{document}

How do I duplicate a dotted path over another?

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