\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}

\usepackage{helvet}
\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

%used in figures
\usepackage{tikz} 
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathmorphing}
\usepgflibrary{patterns}
\usetikzlibrary{patterns}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\usetikzlibrary{fit}
\usetikzlibrary{external}
\tikzexternalize[mode=list and make]
\makeatletter
\tikzset{%
    external/mode=list and make,
    external/new make rule/.code args={make #1; ext .#2}{%
        \tikzexternalwritetomakefile{}%
        \tikzexternalwritetomakefile{ALL_FIGURES_#2=\tikzexternal@DOLLARchar(ALL_FIGURE_NAMES:\tikzexternal@PERCENTchar=\tikzexternal@PERCENTchar .#2)}%
        \tikzexternalwritetomakefile{}%
        \tikzexternalwritetomakefile{#1: \tikzexternal@DOLLARchar(ALL_FIGURES_#2)}%
        \tikzexternalwritetomakefile{\tikzexternal@TABchar @echo All #2 images exist now. Use make -B to re-generate them.}%
        \tikzexternalwritetomakefile{}%
    },
    external/add fig rule/.code args={.#1 depends: .#2,cmd:#3}{%
        \tikzset{%
            external/system call/.add={}{\noexpand\@firstoftwo ^^J},
            external/system call/.add={}{\noexpand\@firstoftwo ^^J\image.#1: \image.#2},
            external/system call/.add={}{^^J#3}
        }
    }
}
\makeatother
\tikzset{
    external/force remake,
    every picture/.style={very thick}
}
\pgfplotsset{
    compat=1.8,
    width = \linewidth,
    height = .58\linewidth,
    legend style={draw=none, fill = none, font=\tiny, row sep=-0.1em},
    legend cell align = left,
}
\newcommand{\includetikz}[1]{%
    \tikzsetnextfilename{#1}%
    \input{#1.tikz}%
}

%\tikzset{ErrorBars/.style={/pgfplot/error bars/.cd, y dir=both, y explicit}}
\tikzset{SimpleLineOpts/.style={black, solid}}
\tikzset{SecondLineOpts/.style={gray, densely dashdotted, mark=10-pointed star}}
\pgfplotsset{
  every mark/.append style={solid},
  ymin = 0,
  xmin = 0
}
\begin{document}
  \includetikz{filename}
\end{document}
