[IPython-dev] first experiment creating Software Carpentry teaching materials using the IPython Notebook

Sun Mar 24 14:14:55 EDT 2013

On Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 5:16 AM, Greg Wilson <gvwilson at third-bit.com> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> Thanks for your replies --- mine are below.
> - Greg
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> I want to put each logical thought in its own cell...I often want
>  >> a small block of code in the middle of a thought.
>  >> ...
>  >> From what I understand, nested cells will do what I want here; any
>  >> idea when they're likely to land in production?
>
>  > MB:
>  > Probably in the next 2 years. But not soon. We can try to work
>  > around that with custom js extension and cell toolbar (cf below for
>  > custom cell marking)
>
>  > MRK:
>  > We have no plans for nested cells per se.  Our current plan for
>  > expressing document hierarchy is strictly with header cells, and
>  > operating on the groupings implied by these headers - outline view,
>  > tabbed view, reordering / hiding whole sections at a time, etc.  One
>  > case this really doesn't serve is the code cell inside a paragraph
>  > case.  We'll have to think about this one.
>
> GVW:
> OK --- if I can add a CSS class to a cell, I can do what I'm doing
> right now with plain HTML (which is mark the second and subsequent
> parts of a broken-to-pieces paragraph as 'continuation').
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> I want to have cells of type 'SVG', and be able to edit my diagrams
>  >> in-browser using something like svg-edit.
>
>  > MRK:
>  > You can have SVG inlined in a markdown cell already, but an SVG-edit
>  > widget would still be useful.
>
> GVW:
> One of the most compelling features of PowerPoint and its open source
> clones is that they let people edit text and visuals side by side in a
> single tool.  I don't know of any HTML-based slideshow tools that
> support that; if the Notebook did, it would make it a lot of friends.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  > Is there a way to say, "Re-set the In[*] counter to 1 and re-run all
>  > cells in the current order"?
>
>  > MB:
>  > No, not possible, you could write js that does it, but the In[] and
>  > Out[] represent kernel state.
>
>  > MRK:
>  > Prompt numbers are strictly and deliberately side effects of running
>  > cells.  If you want to reset without restarting, you can call
>  > `%reset` before doing 'run all'.  I do not think that we are going
>  > to provide a mechanism for making any direct change to prompt
>  > numbers (other than clearing them).
>
> GVW:
> Works for me.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> What's the right way to link from one notebook to another?
>
> GVW:
> There's now another thread on this, so I'll drop it from this
> discussion.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> it would be _really_ nice if the notebook's Markdown was identical
>  >> to GitHub's.
>
>  > MB:
>  > I agree that table would be nice too, and some of github feature
>  > also like (triple-backquote-language) to select coloration.
>  >
>  > It is just too much to handle in the core for now. If/when we have
>  > more manpower, that would be great.
>  >
>  > Still you could, with an extension, make the table from python code.
>
>  > MRK:
>  > We are extremely reticent to extend the markdown syntax, because
>  > maintaining such a thing is well outside our core competency. We
>  > have already found this to be troublesome with our one extension so
>  > far - including mathjax.  *However*, tables are a part of
>  > GitHub-flavored markdown, which all of us use every day.  So
>  > perhaps we can get away with finding a javascript implementation of
>  > GHM, in which case you would get tables as described here:
>  > https://help.github.com/articles/github-flavored-markdown.
>
> GVW:
> Understood.  Am I right that if you could take Markdown rendering out
> of the core entirely and use someone else's library, you would?
>

We already do - we use pagedown, stackexchange's markdown implementation.
 It has a few small patches for the notebook.

>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> I want this [sample code] pretty-printed as Python, but do _not_
>  >> want the notebook to try to execute it.
>
>  > MB:
>  > 4 space indent in MD cell should convert to "code" environment in
>  > markdown.  Not sure if it colorize...
>
>  > MIN:
>  > If you indent a block four spaces in a markdown cell, it will be
>  > highlighted as code, but is not a code cell, and thus will not be
>  > executed.  This mechanism uses `prettify`, which infers the language
>  > being used, and should highlight Python and shell blobs scripts
>  > properly.
>
> GVW:
> Indenting four spaces in a Markdown cell mostly works --- the code is
> colorized, but the background color is white instead of gray.  On the
> other hand, since this code *isn't* actually being executed, that may
> be a good thing.  It'll do for now...
>

This is a style question - we can tweak the style of the highlighted code
inside the cell, but it is important that it appear distinct from a real
code cell.

>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> And similarly, if I want to format cells to look like shell
>  >> commands and their output (and then populate them with
>  >> copy-and-paste), can I do that?
>
>  > MB:
>  > With extension, you could "lock" some cell. But the extension have
>  > to be install on student notebooks.
>
> GVW:
> I'm OK with having students install a Software Carpentry extension ---
> we're probably going to have to do that for other reasons anyway (e.g.,
> to support in-class multiple choice quizzes).  Again, I think that if I
> can label certain cells with classes, we can use that to trigger existing
> bits of JS to colorize without executing.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  >> GVW:
>  >> Related to all of the above: I want some way to mark specific cells
>  >> with classes.
>
>  > MB:
>  > That's on dev version. Arbitrary marking cell with tag in metadata
>  > and a custom custom.css.
>  > [details]
>  >
>
> http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/Carreau/posts/master/04-initialisation-cell.ipynb
>
>  > MIN:
>  > The API for this would be cell metadata - in master, activate the
>  > cell toolbar to edit metadata for each cell.  We need to figure out
>  > some mechanisms for what we do with cell metadata, and what we let
>  > authors do with metdata in terms of UI and effects.  The very best
>  > information on this is use cases people need, so we will definitely
>  > keep this in mind as we work out the design.
>
> GVW:
> Cool!
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> GVW:
> Thank you both for your responses.  Given what you've said, the
> priority on the things I want are:
>
> 1: Inter-notebook linking.
>
> 2: Marking cells with particular classes, which will then allow:
>
>     2.1: Selectively showing/hiding different kinds of material in a
>          single notebook.
>
>     2.2: Styling (both during display, and when exporting to other
>          formats like LaTeX).
>
> 3: An in-place SVG editing widget.
>
> 4: GitHub-compatible Markdown.
>
> Sounds like #1 is under way; as per my original message, Fernando and
> Brian tell me it doesn't make sense to think about #3 until mid- to
> late summer.  #2 is in the dev version (at which point #2.1 and #2.2
> become my responsibility) --- any idea when that lands in production?

And #4 is on me...
>

Current plan is to release 1.0 in July.

With one clarification on #2:  There is not a hook for you to add css
classes to the cells live in the notebook, but this can certainly be added.
 The cell metadata is how you would do this, but interpreting the metadata
to add the class to the div will need to be added.

>
> Thanks,
> Greg
>
> _______________________________________________
> IPython-dev mailing list
> IPython-dev at scipy.org
> http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/ipython-dev
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/ipython-dev/attachments/20130324/a9723c32/attachment.html>