specify the step of pgfplots axis

Question

Now the numbers on the x-axis are

0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2

I want to show integer only:

0, 1, 2

How can I do that? My code:

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
    xlabel=threads,
    ylabel=speedup & deviation]
\addplot table[x=thread,y=speedup] {datafile.dat};
\addplot table[x=thread,y=dev] {datafile.dat};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

The content of datafile.dat:

thread  speedup dev
1   1   0
2   3   1
3   5   0
4   7   1

For example, you can include a compilable minimal code and we can have a look together :) — percusse, Mar 09 '12 at 02:37

kernstock · Answer 1 · 2016-04-17T10:56:05.540

49

If you want to specify the step, i.e. the interval of your ticks, you can also use the xtick distance-option. Refer to section 4.15 in the pgfplots manual, Version 1.13. As @Magpie pointed out, this one is easier to use than xtick if use have a large number of ticks you want to show.

Code

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

% example data file
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{datafile.dat}
    thread speedup dev
    1 1 0
    2 3 1
    3 5 0
    4 7 1
\end{filecontents}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[
        xlabel=threads,
        ylabel=speedup \& deviation,
        xtick distance=1
        ]

        \addplot table[x=thread,y=speedup] {datafile.dat};
        \addplot table[x=thread,y=dev] {datafile.dat};
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Output

edited Apr 17 '16 at 10:56

answered Apr 17 '16 at 09:06

kernstock

591

Welcome to [tex.se]! Can you provide some sample code showing this in action. – Andrew Swann Apr 17 '16 at 10:08
2

This is a really valuable answer. – ahorn Oct 20 '16 at 20:04
This is probably the correct answer for the original quenstion in most use cases, thanks! – Czechnology May 23 '17 at 14:45
When I try to run this MWE, I get the following error:
Package pgfkeys Error: I do not know the key '/tikz/xtick distance', to which you passed '1', and I am going to ignore it. Perhaps you misspelled it.
– NCH32 Jan 23 '19 at 08:31
If you have a package manager, check if your pgfplots is on version >1.13. If it's not, update it. – kernstock Jan 23 '19 at 09:28

score 42 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '12 at 02:54

42

If you want to have the x ticks to appear exactly as entered you can use the option xtick=data.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstableread{
thread  speedup dev
1   1   0
2   3   1
3   5   0
4   7   1
}\datafile

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
    xlabel=threads,
    ylabel=speedup \& deviation,
    xtick=data]
\addplot table[x=thread,y=speedup] {\datafile};
\addplot table[x=thread,y=dev] {\datafile};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

or you can enter manually by xtick={1,2,3,4} option

answered Mar 09 '12 at 02:54

percusse

157,807

1

This wouldn't be ideal with large sets of data. – Magpie Mar 12 '13 at 20:01
@Magpie then you use explicit ticks or leave it to pgfplots anyway. – percusse Mar 12 '13 at 22:41
Or, for instance, you can enter xtick={0,...,10}, instead of manually writing the numbers from 0 to 10 – Bruce_Warrior May 22 '23 at 14:04

huon · Answer 3 · 2012-03-09T02:57:46.370

Section 4.14 of the pgfplots manual describes the xtick option, which gives a list of locations for the ticks. In this case xtick={1,...,4} should do the trick.

Here's an example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

% example data file
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{datafile.dat}
thread speedup dev
1 1 0
2 3 1
3 5 0
4 7 1
\end{filecontents}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
    xlabel=threads,
    ylabel=speedup \& deviation,
    xtick={1,...,4}]

\addplot table[x=thread,y=speedup] {datafile.dat};
\addplot table[x=thread,y=dev] {datafile.dat};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

(EDIT: Different section numbers for difference versions of the manual)

What about axis that go from -4 to 4? – Magpie Mar 12 '13 at 20:01 — Magpie, Mar 12 '13 at 20:01

score 15 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 10 '20 at 12:32

Use xtick={0, 1, 2} to specify where you want the xticks:

enter image description here

Notes:

This also necessitated specifying xmin=0 to get the marker for x=0.
You also need to \& for the ylabel.

Code:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{datafile.dat}
thread  speedup dev
1   1   0
2   3   1
3   5   0
4   7   1
\end{filecontents}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
    xlabel=threads,
    ylabel={speedup &amp; deviation},
    xtick={0, 1, 2},
    xmin=0
]
\addplot table[x=thread,y=speedup] {datafile.dat};
\addplot table[x=thread,y=dev] {datafile.dat};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

specify the step of pgfplots axis

4 Answers4

Notes:

Code:

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