[IPython-dev] Behavior of Default Kernel

[Zachary Jones]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the behavior of default kernels

I was testing IPython from github today (commit hash: dc60d34) and wanted
to understand if the behavior I am seeing is expected.

The IPython notebook server is running under Python3.4, but I would the
default kernel to be a custom Python 2 stack.

Running "ipython kernelspec list" from the CLI returns:
Available kernels:
  python3
  my_python2

I invoked IPython notebook using the default_kernel_name:
'--MappingKernelManager.default_kernel_name=my_python2'

The API call to http://localhost:8000/api/kernelspecs returns:
{
    "default": "my_python2",
    "kernelspecs": {
        "my_python2": {
             "env": {},
             "argv": [*omitted*],
             "name": "my_python2",
             "display_name": "My Python2 Stack"
        },
        "python3": {
             "env": {},
             "argv": [*omitted*],
             "name": "python3",
             "display_name": "IPython (Python 3)"
        }
    }
}

With this configuration, I observed the following:

   - When I go to to the notebook dashboard, next to the "New Notebook"
   button is "IPython (Python 3)" and the hover over says "IPython (Python 3)
   is the default kernel for new notebooks".
   - When I click on "New Notebook", the notebook opened uses "IPython
   (Python 3)" kernel.
   - When I open existing notebooks that are being converted from v3 to v4,
   the notebooks open using "My Python 2 Stack" kernel.
   - When I open an existing notebook that has had the kernel spec inserted
   into metadata, that kernel is used.


*Finally to my questions..*
Is the default_kernel_name supposed to be used when the "New Notebook"
button is pressed? and is it suppose to be shown next to the "New Notebook"
button?

If the answers are yes, should I open an Issue in GitHub? I tried looking
for an existing issue, but did not turn up anything.


Thanks for your help,
Zach Jones
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