You can use
y filter/.expression={y==0 ? nan : y}
in the options of \addplot.
\documentclass{article}
% ---------------------------------- tikz
\usepackage{pgfplots} % to print charts
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.12}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis} [
% general
ybar,
scale only axis,
height=0.5\textwidth,
width=1.2\textwidth,
ylabel={\# Dots},
nodes near coords,
xlabel={Variation},
xticklabel style={
rotate=90,
anchor=east,
},
%enlarge x limits={abs value={3}},
]
\addplot+[y filter/.expression={y==0 ? nan : y}] table [
x=grade,
y=value,
] {
grade value
-11 0
-10 0
-9 0
-8 0
-7 0
-6 0
-5 3
-4 1
-3 2
-2 15
-1 11
0 179
1 8
2 1
3 0
4 1
5 2
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
11 0
};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
My suggestion would be to update your pgfplots package. From pgfplots version 1.9, nodes near coords gives a better result. Compare the result with version 1.8:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots} % to print charts
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.8}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
ybar stacked,
nodes near coords,
every node near coord/.append style={font=\footnotesize},
xbar legend,
% nodes near coords align={right},
legend pos=outer north east,
enlarge x limits={abs=1},
enlarge y limits=false,
bar width=.5,
% x axis
xtick={1,2},
xticklabels={Dots,Squares},
% y axis
ymin=0,
ylabel={Aliens founds},
]
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=blue,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=pink,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=gray,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\legend{First one,Second one,Third}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Caption placeholder}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
and that of version 1.9 or newer:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots} % to print charts
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.9}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
ybar stacked,
nodes near coords,
every node near coord/.append style={font=\footnotesize},
xbar legend,
% nodes near coords align={right},
legend pos=outer north east,
enlarge x limits={abs=1},
enlarge y limits=false,
bar width=.5,
% x axis
xtick={1,2},
xticklabels={Dots,Squares},
% y axis
ymin=0,
ylabel={Aliens founds},
]
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=blue,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=pink,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=gray,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\legend{First one,Second one,Third}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Caption placeholder}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
If updating is not an option, you can try some manual adjustments; for example:
every node near coord/.append style={xshift=-15pt,yshift=-3pt,anchor=east,font=\footnotesize},
which yields
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots} % to print charts
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.8}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
ybar stacked,
nodes near coords,
every node near coord/.append style={xshift=-15pt,yshift=-3pt,anchor=east,font=\footnotesize},
xbar legend,
% nodes near coords align={right},
legend pos=outer north east,
enlarge x limits={abs=1},
enlarge y limits=false,
bar width=.5,
% x axis
xtick={1,2},
xticklabels={Dots,Squares},
% y axis
ymin=0,
ylabel={Aliens founds},
]
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=blue,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=pink,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\addplot table [
x=index,
y=gray,
] {
index blue pink gray
1 25 10 5
2 35 0 100
};
\legend{First one,Second one,Third}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Caption placeholder}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
Best Answer
Here is a suggestion using
Code: