Allowing variable references in Markdown cells

[eronlloyd]

Having access to kernel runtime variables to insert into markdown cells (or other non-code cells/widgets) would be an excellent enhancement for notebooks, particularly when including detailed narrative that describes the results of the code and research. Before posting this, I looked around and found references that lead back to earlier discussions around this on the ipython repo, and it seemed like there was interest in getting this implemented.

I searched and didn't see anything already covering this in the jupyter/notebook issue list, so I felt I should raise it here as well, in case key issues like this have not also been migrated along with the code to the new repo. Please see the original issue for a great discussion on this matter, as well as some ideas and implementation estimates.

Since Jupyter now is focused on a more language-neutral approach, I'm sure that complicates the design, but having this functionality, even starting with just Python-based notebooks, would be an attractive addition. I'd like to help move this forward in any way that I can.

[cranmer]

+1

[fbob]

yep +1

[JamiesHQ]

@gnestor : Depending on the status of this issue, the associated ipython issue may be of interest to you. This is also marked with the "Dev Meeting" label - just in time!

[gnestor]

It looks like the ipython issue has more discussion so let's close this for now and move discussion there...