Pgfplots Cycle List results in no Colors

Question

I'm trying to use cycle list name = MyCyclelist in order to give my graphs all the same color/style scheme. However all lines are shown in black. I hope, somebody can help. Many thanks!

I've defined the cycle list in my header like this:

\pgfplotscreateplotcyclelist{MyCyclelist}{%
{darkgray, mark = none, thick},
{Green, mark = none, thick},
{MidnightBlue, mark = none, thick},
{Mahogany, mark = none, thick},
{RedOrange, mark = none, thick},
{RoyalPurple, mark = none, thick},
}

My pgfplot file is pretty standard:

\tikzsetnextfilename{nextfilename1}
\begin{tikzpicture}

\begin{axis}[
axis on top,
xlabel = abc,
ylabel = def,
xmin=0,
xmax=194,
ymin = 0,
legend style = {nodes=left, font =\footnotesize},
legend pos = north east,
height=0.5\textwidth,
width=\textwidth,
cycle list name=MyCyclelist
]
\pgfplotstableread{pictures/data.txt} \datatable
\addplot[legend image post style={sharp plot, line width=1pt, mark=none}, thick] table[x index = 0 , y index = 1 ] from \datatable;
\addlegendentry{abc}
\addplot[legend image post style={sharp plot, line width=1pt, mark=none}, thick] table[x index = 0 , y index = 3 ] from \datatable;
\addlegendentry{def}
    \end{axis}


\end{tikzpicture}

data.txt looks like this:

0   6.21E-11    5.40E-11    8.73E-11
1   6.04E-11    4.86E-11    8.49E-11
2   5.16E-11    5.54E-11    7.30E-11
3   6.46E-11    4.63E-11    8.12E-11

Answer 1

If there is no optional argument for the \addplot command a cycle list is used. This could be the default cycle list or an own list.

If there is an optional argument \addplot[<options>] the settings of the cycle list are ignored.

If you want to use both the cycle list and the optional argument you have to insert a + between the command and the optional argument: \addplot+[<options>]. In that case the options of the cycle list are set first and the options inside the optional argument are appended.

\begin{filecontents*}{data.txt}
0   6.21E-11    5.40E-11    8.73E-11
1   6.04E-11    4.86E-11    8.49E-11
2   5.16E-11    5.54E-11    7.30E-11
3   6.46E-11    4.63E-11    8.12E-11
\end{filecontents*}

\documentclass[dvipsnames]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=newest}

\pgfplotscreateplotcyclelist{MyCyclelist}{%
  {darkgray, mark = none, thick},
  {Green, mark = none, thick},
  {MidnightBlue, mark = none, thick},
  {Mahogany, mark = none, thick},
  {RedOrange, mark = none, thick},
  {RoyalPurple, mark = none, thick},
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[
    axis on top,
    xlabel = abc,
    ylabel = def,
    xmin=0,
    xmax=4,%xmax=194,
    ymin = 0,
    legend style = {nodes=left, font =\footnotesize},
    legend pos = north east,
    height=0.5\textwidth,
    width=\textwidth,
    cycle list name=MyCyclelist
  ]
  \pgfplotstableread{data.txt} \datatable
  \addplot+[legend image post style={line width=1pt}] table[x index = 0 , y index = 1 ] from \datatable;
  \addlegendentry{abc}
  \addplot+[legend image post style={line width=1pt}] table[x index = 0 , y index = 3 ] from \datatable;
  \addlegendentry{def}
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

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Note: If all legend images should have the same line width you can set legend image post style={line width=1pt} as an option for the axis environment. Then you can simple use \addplot table ...