Here is a solution via pgfkeys.
First, I create the new family mygrid, I define some keys with their initial values in this family and I define the new command \mygridset to use this family:
\pgfkeys{
mygrid/.is family,
mygrid,
min x/.initial=-5,
max x/.initial=5,
min y/.initial=-5,
max y/.initial=5,
small step/.initial=.1,
step/.initial=1,
big step/.initial=5,
color/.initial=red,
}
\newcommand\mygridset[1]{\pgfkeys{mygrid,#1}}
Then I define the new command \mygrid with an empty optional parameter. The first lines of this command (the call to \mygridset) changes the values of the keys via #1 then store the value of each key in a macro. The last lines draw the grid with these values.
\newcommand\mygrid[1][]{
\mygridset{#1,
min x/.get=\gridminx,
max x/.get=\gridmaxx,
min y/.get=\gridminy,
max y/.get=\gridmaxy,
small step/.get=\gridsmallstep,
step/.get=\gridstep,
big step/.get=\gridbigstep,
color/.get=\gridcolor
}
\draw [step=\gridsmallstep, help lines,\gridcolor!20]
(\gridminx,\gridminy) grid (\gridmaxx,\gridmaxy);
\draw [step=\gridstep, help lines,\gridcolor!40]
(\gridminx,\gridminy) grid (\gridmaxx,\gridmaxy);
\draw [step=\gridbigstep, help lines,\gridcolor!100]
(\gridminx,\gridminy) grid (\gridmaxx,\gridmaxy);
\foreach \x in {\gridminx,...,\gridmaxx} {
\node[below,font=\tiny] at (\x,\gridminy) {$\x$};
\node[above,font=\tiny] at (\x,\gridmaxy) {$\x$};
};
\foreach \y in {\gridminy,...,\gridmaxy} {
\node[left,font=\tiny] at (\gridminx,\y) {$\y$};
\node[right,font=\tiny] at (\gridmaxx,\y) {$\y$};
};
}
Here is a complete example (3 pages) to illustrate the usage:
And the complete code:
\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\pgfkeys{
mygrid/.is family,
mygrid,
min x/.initial=-5,
max x/.initial=5,
min y/.initial=-5,
max y/.initial=5,
small step/.initial=.1,
step/.initial=1,
big step/.initial=5,
color/.initial=red,
}
\newcommand\mygridset[1]{\pgfkeys{mygrid,#1}}
\newcommand\mygrid[1][]{
\mygridset{#1,
min x/.get=\gridminx,
max x/.get=\gridmaxx,
min y/.get=\gridminy,
max y/.get=\gridmaxy,
small step/.get=\gridsmallstep,
step/.get=\gridstep,
big step/.get=\gridbigstep,
color/.get=\gridcolor
}
\draw [step=\gridsmallstep, help lines,\gridcolor!20]
(\gridminx,\gridminy) grid (\gridmaxx,\gridmaxy);
\draw [step=\gridstep, help lines,\gridcolor!40]
(\gridminx,\gridminy) grid (\gridmaxx,\gridmaxy);
\draw [step=\gridbigstep, help lines,\gridcolor!100]
(\gridminx,\gridminy) grid (\gridmaxx,\gridmaxy);
\foreach \x in {\gridminx,...,\gridmaxx} {
\node[below,font=\tiny] at (\x,\gridminy) {$\x$};
\node[above,font=\tiny] at (\x,\gridmaxy) {$\x$};
};
\foreach \y in {\gridminy,...,\gridmaxy} {
\node[left,font=\tiny] at (\gridminx,\y) {$\y$};
\node[right,font=\tiny] at (\gridmaxx,\y) {$\y$};
};
}
% a style to memorize some change to the default values
\mygridset{
a grid/.style={
min x=-3,
max x=3,
min y=-3,
max y=3,
small step=.2,
step=1,
big step=2,
color=orange,
}
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
% a grid with default values
\mygrid
\end{tikzpicture}
\begin{tikzpicture}
% a grid with specific values
\mygrid[min x=-3, max x=2,min y=-2,max y=1,color=blue]
\end{tikzpicture}
\begin{tikzpicture}
% a grid using the `a grid` style
\mygrid[a grid]
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
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}
Best Answer
It seems that the problem with your example is that you are mixing
tikzkeys withpgfkeys. Try this instead: