Links and notebooks/files

[ellisonbg]

One of the core features of the notebook is that notebooks can link through relative links to other notebooks. This allows notebooks to function as proper webpages that can be linked to by other notebooks as well as other web pages. We use this capability ourself in our own docs here:

http://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/ipython/ipython/blob/4.0.x/examples/IPython%20Kernel/Index.ipynb

Notice that first page has links that are all links to other notebooks in that directory. These links work across the live notebook server, GitHub's rendering and nbviewer. Given this, JupyterLab can't break this critical feature.

Here are some initial thoughts on how we can offer this:

1. Visiting a new lab page that has a path to a notebook (./lab/the/path/notebook.ipynb) should simply open the default JupyterLab view, open the file browser to that path, and then open that notebook in the dock panel. This may require a slight bit of server logic to handle those paths.
2. Clicking on a link in a notebook or other content in JupyterLab that has a relative path to another notebook, should simply open that notebook in the current JupyterLab by default. This can be accomplished by intercepting the click on the a tag and preventing default and triggering the document open action with that path. Again, the file browser should go to that directory.
3. If a user holds down command and clicks on such a link, the notebook should open in a new JupyterLab browser tab that follows the idea of point 1.
4. Links to relative paths that are not notebooks should follow similar logic. Thus, a notebook should be able to link to a text file and clicking on that text file should open that document in the current JupyterLab tab.

[jasongrout]

In (1), do you envision the url remaining the path to the file? If so, it
gets confusing if the person opens another file in the same dock panel.

I'm fine having a GET request tell JupyterLab what file to open by default.
I think it's confusing to have the filename in the URL after JupyterLab has
opened, if the person can then open more files, arrange workspace, etc.

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 12:57 AM Brian E. Granger notifications@github.com
wrote:

One of the core features of the notebook is that notebooks can link
through relative links to other notebooks. This allows notebooks to
function as proper webpages that can be linked to by other notebooks as
well as other web pages. We use this capability ourself in our own docs
here:

http://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/ipython/ipython/blob/4.0.x/examples/IPython%20Kernel/Index.ipynb

Notice that first page has links that are all links to other notebooks in
that directory. These links work across the live notebook server, GitHub's
rendering and nbviewer. Given this, JupyterLab can't break this critical
feature.

Here are some initial thoughts on how we can offer this:

1. Visiting a new lab page that has a path to a notebook (
   ./lab/the/path/notebook.ipynb) should simply open the default
   JupyterLab view, open the file browser to that path, and then open that
   notebook in the dock panel. This may require a slight bit of server logic
   to handle those paths.
2. Clicking on a link in a notebook or other content in JupyterLab
   that has a relative path to another notebook, should simply open that
   notebook in the current JupyterLab by default. This can be accomplished by
   intercepting the click on the a tag and preventing default and
   triggering the document open action with that path. Again, the file browser
   should go to that directory.
3. If a user holds down command and clicks on such a link, the
   notebook should open in a new JupyterLab browser tab that follows the idea
   of point 1.
4. Links to relative paths that are not notebooks should follow
   similar logic. Thus, a notebook should be able to link to a text file and
   clicking on that text file should open that document in the current
   JupyterLab tab.

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#158

[ellisonbg]

On Thu, Apr 7, 2016 at 11:07 PM, Jason Grout notifications@github.com
wrote:

In (1), do you envision the url remaining the path to the file? If so, it
gets confusing if the person opens another file in the same dock panel.

I'm fine having a GET request tell JupyterLab what file to open by default.
I think it's confusing to have the filename in the URL after JupyterLab has
opened, if the person can then open more files, arrange workspace, etc.
follows the idea

A couple of way so handling this:

• Each time a user changes the active file in the dock panel, we simple
  update the URL to reflect that. IF we store additional session state (set
  of open files and where), this gives us sane page reloading.
• After a user clicks away from that initial file, make the URL just the
  top level lab one.

Once we get the basic stuff, working with file linking, we should just play
with it and see what makes more sense (or user test!)

Brian E. Granger
Associate Professor of Physics and Data Science
Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo
@ellisonbg on Twitter and GitHub
bgranger@calpoly.edu and ellisonbg@gmail.com

[fperez]

To keep the discussion organized, I'll copy here what I'd posted in #159...

Reasons to want a stable URL for a notebook: this makes it easy to have something to bookmark for often-used notebooks, to reload one open notebook in a different browser (crash, suspected browser bug, etc), or to reload across server sessions (common while developing).

I agree that in a full multi-tab Lab page with potentially many notebooks open, having a URL for the whole page shouldn't reflect one of the notebooks. But I think that in a possibly maximized mode, or other single-notebook mode, the URL should be stable and reflect that open notebook. I suspect one that this is a use case that, if we break it, we'll anger quite a few folks...

[razaina]

Hi,

any update regarding this request? it is actually a nice feature to have to ease the navigation through different notebooks.

[blink1073]

Hi @razaina, this work has moved to JupyterLab. Links between local documents are supported in JupyterLab 0.15, opening a document by url is tracked here: jupyterlab/jupyterlab#1075.