pgfplots: Incorrect legend marks for a line plot with markers on top

Question

According to the pgfplots manual (§4.9.5), every legend image post can be used to draw “a line plot and [have] you plot selected markers on top of it.” In that section, they provide an example for a single plot + markers. However, when I try to extend their example to a figure with two plots + markers, I get the wrong marker type in the legend.

In the following MWE, I expected the legend for the “2nd Parabola” to show a square instead of a circle. How can I get the right marker to show up in the legend?

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.14}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[legend image post style={mark=*}]
    \addplot+[only marks,forget plot] coordinates {(0.5,0.75) (1,1) (1.5,0.75)};
    \addplot+[mark=none,smooth,domain=0:2] {-x*(x-2)};
    \addlegendentry{Parabola}

    \addplot+[only marks,forget plot] coordinates {(0.5,1.75) (1,2) (1.5,1.75)};
    \addplot+[mark=none,smooth,domain=0:2] {-x*(x-2)+1};
    \addlegendentry{2nd Parabola}
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Answer 1

As OP already stated in the comment below the question one could add legend image post style={mark=<correct mark>} to "every" \addplot command, but would be rather lengthy. To shorten this a bit it would be easier to create a custom style with an argument, which I show in the first/left solution.

Another option would be to add some dummy plots first which have the right style, but when you want to make it work in an almost fully automatic manner, then this requires that you strictly use cycle list members in the given order. This is shown in the lower/right solution.

For more details please have a look at the comments in the code

% used PGFPlots v1.16
\documentclass[border=5pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
    \pgfplotsset{
        % create a cycle list to show that this is a general solution
        cycle multiindex list={
            [3 of]mark list\nextlist
            exotic\nextlist
            linestyles\nextlist
        },
        % create a style for the "mark" `\addplot`s
        my mark style/.style={
            only marks,
            forget plot,
        },
        % create a style for the "line" `\addplot`s
        my line style/.style={
            mark=none,
            legend image post style={
                % add a parameter here so this can be used to provide the
                % right `mark` (which is shorter than providing the whole key--value)
                mark=#1,
            },
        },
        % give a default value to the style (in case no argument is given)
        my line style/.default=o,
        % create another style to add the dummy legend entries
        add dummy plots for legend/.style={
            execute at begin axis={
                % add the number of dummy plots for the legend outside the visible area ...
                \foreach \i in {1,...,\LegendEntries} {
                    \addplot coordinates {(0,-1)};
                }
                % ... and shift the cycle list index back to 1
                \pgfplotsset{cycle list shift=-\LegendEntries}
            },
        },
    }
\begin{document}
% semi automatic solution where still the right `mark` has to be provided
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[
        % (I moved the common `\addplot` options here)
        smooth,
        domain=0:2,
        % (the `\vphantom` is just to make both `title`s appear on the same baseline)
        title={Semi automatic solution\vphantom{y}},
    ]
        % use/apply the above created styles
        \addplot+ [my mark style] coordinates {(0.5,0.75) (1,1) (1.5,0.75)};
        \addplot+ [my line style=*] {-x*(x-2)};
            \addlegendentry{Parabola}

        \addplot+ [my mark style] coordinates {(0.5,1.75) (1,2) (1.5,1.75)};
        \addplot+ [my line style=square*] {-x*(x-2)+1};
            \addlegendentry{2nd Parabola}
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
% Almost fully automatic solution where a number of dummy plots has to be given
% to create the required legend.
% An requirement to make this work is that you strictly use a `cycle list`!
\begin{tikzpicture}
        % set here the number of legend entries you want to show
        \pgfmathtruncatemacro{\LegendEntries}{2}
    \begin{axis}[
        smooth,
        domain=0:2,
        %
        % because we need to add the dummy plots somewhere outside the visible
        % area we need to set at least one limit explicitly ...
        ymin=0,
        % ... and also apply the default enlargement
        enlarge y limits=0.1,
        title={Almost fully automatic solution},
        % the style names says everything already ;)
        add dummy plots for legend,
    ]

        % just add the plots (using the styles)
        \addplot+ [my mark style] coordinates {(0.5,0.75) (1,1) (1.5,0.75)};
        \addplot+ [my line style] {-x*(x-2)};

        \addplot+ [my mark style] coordinates {(0.5,1.75) (1,2) (1.5,1.75)};
        \addplot+ [my line style] {-x*(x-2)+1};

        % (I prefer adding legend entries here because it is much easier than
        %  stating them at "every" `\addplot` command)
        \legend{
            Parabola,
            2nd Parabola,
        }
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}