# How to correct problem with ybar plot: bad axis and too many labels in x axis

I need a bit of help here with the axis... Any suggestions would be always welcome. I have got 2 extra labels at the x axis...

 \documentclass{scrreprt}

\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepgflibrary{decorations.markings}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows,decorations.pathmorphing,backgrounds,positioning,fit,petri     }
\usepackage{textcomp}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
symbolic x coords={AL2O3, ALN, Si3N4, BeO, Epoxid, Polimid, ALSiC, Al, Cu,      Mo, Si, Au},
width=15cm,
height=5cm,
%xtick={200,400},
%grid=major,
x tick label style={rotate=90,anchor=east},
ylabel=$\mathbf{W/m\cdot K}$,
enlargelimits=0.15,
legend style={at={(0.5,-0.15)},
anchor=north,legend columns=-1},
ybar=5pt,% configures bar shift'
ymin=0,
ymax=500,
bar width=0.4cm,
nodes near coords,
]
coordinates {(AL2O3,24) (ALN,180) (Si3N4,70) (BeO,250) (Epoxid,3.0)      (Polimid,0.385) (ALSiC,200) (Al,237) (Cu,394) (Mo,138) (Si,148) (Au,317)};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


Somehow I would like to have a minor grid at the y axis, and that it starts at 0 along with the x axis, and that the upper axis doesn't have a cross...

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Welcome to TeX.sx! Please always add a minimal working example (MWE) that illustrates your problem. It will be much easier for us to reproduce your situation and find out what the issue is when we see compilable code, starting with \documentclass{...} and ending with \end{document}. –  Fran Sep 29 '13 at 11:26
What exactly is your question? –  Jake Sep 29 '13 at 11:38
Usually, we don't put a greeting or a “thank you” in our posts. While this might seem strange at first, it is not a sign of lack of politeness, but rather part of our trying to keep everything very concise. Accepting and upvoting answers is the preferred way here to say “thank you” to users who helped you. –  Fran Sep 29 '13 at 11:40
What does "upper axis doesn't have a cross" mean? –  Thorsten Donig Sep 29 '13 at 15:36
@ThorstenDonig it should mean that the marks at the upper horizontal axis atays just in the box... I believe that is made with xtick{}, but I´m not sure... –  quantumflight Sep 29 '13 at 15:45

Perhaps this approach is somewhat useful for you. The axes are put at the left and bottom and there is a minor grid for the y ticks. There are no symbolic x coords anymore and instead you now have explicit xticklabels. The double first and last ticks are gone.

The chemical compounds in the ticks of the abscissa have been formatted by »chemformula« from the »chemmacros« bundle. The »siunitx« package helps to format the unit for the label of the ordinate.

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{chemformula}

\usepackage{siunitx}
\sisetup{
inter-unit-product = \ensuremath{{}\cdot{}},
per-mode=fraction
}

\pgfplotsset{compat=1.9}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
width=14cm,
height=7cm,
axis x line*=bottom,
axis y line*=left,
nodes near coords,
legend style={
at={(0.5,-0.15)},
anchor=north,
legend columns=-1
},
xtick={1,2,...,12},
xticklabels={\ch{AL2O3},\ch{ALN},\ch{Si3N4},\ch{BeO},Epoxid,Polyimid,\ch{ALSiC},\ch{Al},\ch{Cu},\ch{Mo},\ch{Si},\ch{Au}},
x tick label style={rotate=90,anchor=east},
ymin=0,
ymax=500,
ybar=5pt,
bar width=0.4cm,
ylabel={Thermoconductivity / \si{\W\per\m\per\K}},
ymajorgrids=true,
ytick={100,200,...,500}
]
(1,24)
(2,180)
(3,70)
(4,250)
(5,3)
(6,0.385)
(7,200)
(8,237)
(9,394)
(10,138)
(11,148)
(12,317)
};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
`

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