links across notebooks

[ivanov]

This has been discussed in person (and perhaps in places on list), but I wanted to open an issue for it separately.

@gvwilson (Greg Wilson) just mentioned this again in a software-carpentry list email,

• What's the right way to link from one notebook to another? A
  Markdown URL of the form:

  displayed text

  doesn't work, even when otherfile.ipynb is in the same directory.

@jiffyclub (Matt Davis), on 2013-03-22 19:21, replied :

No can do. The URL of a notebook is set to a hash when you
start it, it'll be random every time. There's also the issue
that Notebooks aren't static, this is a web app. Opening a
notebook requires starting a new Python process, not just
opening and rendering the page.

This is true, currently, but may change in the future -- I have
been trying to push for this sort of thing on the IPython side -
for precisely this kind of use case.

another use case Greg mentioned is the same thing for cell anchors:

• Up near the top of the file, you'll see the words "design pattern"
  formatted as a link. Right now, the URL in thatl link is
  "glossary.ipynb#design-pattern", i.e., the glossary's definition
  of the term. I could use "glossary.html#design-pattern" instead,
  but I'm curious whether I can/should use a Notebook for the glossary
  to ensure uniform styling with minimal effort, and if so, how I link
  from a notebook to a target in another notebook.

fixing this issue would make something like #1692 more useful.

[ivanov]

Also, this is related to #2867 - but there, the links would work across server sessions, whereas this feature would be nice for just on the same server instance

[Carreau]

I also tried, someone had the same idee of computed an UUID from the file path, (comment in code)
the issue is when the notebooks are rename and saved, I didn't found a way to push back info (new url) to the frontend with a tornado PUT handler.

And once this is solved we can try to solve cross references, but this will probably require redirect.

[minrk]

See #3058 for an example of a non-disruptive option.

[minrk]

#3058 + #3064 give cross-notebook links for the current notebook session, and adding either #3140 or IPEP 16 should be enough to cross notebook server sessions.

[minrk]

closed by #3058 and #3064