[IPython-dev] Fwd: [SciTech] ActivePapers Python edition

[Konrad Hinsen]

Hi Thomas,

 > Our JSON format does have a concept of cell metadata, where this
 > kind of information could be stored. But it would also be
 > interesting to see notebook cells with contents stored in HDF5
 > datasets.

One advantage of storing notebooks cells as ActivePapers calclets (and
thus as HDF5 datasets) is the possibility to open any ActivePapers
file as a notebook, even if it was generated in a different way.

But in the end such decisions can't be taken in theory. I'd better shut
up until I actually start trying out something.

 > We have considered the possibility of having cells stored
 > externally to the notebook, so you could have a cell whose contents
 > were stored in a plain Python file, which could then be shared
 > between multiple notebooks.

An interesting idea, but potentially a data management headache.
What do you do if an external file disappears?

 > It shouldn't be too hard to work with notebooks stored in a different format -
 > you'd need to write a custom notebook server which translates to a JSON structure
 > to load a notebook, and translates back to your own format when it's saved. That's
 > handled in the FileNotebookManager class:
 > https://github.com/ipython/ipython/blob/master/IPython/html/services/notebooks/
 > filenbmanager.py#L37

Thanks for the pointer!

Konrad