Design Specification

The VS Code IPE extension allows users to combine the experience of using a data science notebook interface with the functionalities of a robust code editor; users can choose to execute code block by block and have both the input code and its corresponding output displayed in an output pane. This extension is aimed especially to provide a REPL environment for data scientists in VS Code. Currently, the languages being supported are Python and R.

Contributions

Command	Shortcut	Action
Show Output Pane	Windows: Ctrl+K+V MAC: Cmd+K+V	Opens a Webview panel on the right-hand side of VS Code.
Send Code to Output Window	Windows: Alt+Enter MAC: Option+Enter	Executes either the highlighted code or the current line, and displays it in the output pane.
Export to Jupyter	F1 -> Export to Jupyter, Button in Webview	Export the cards present in the webview to a Jupyter Notebook file (.ipynb).
Import Jupyter Notebook	F1 -> Import Jupyter Notebook	Import an external Jupyter Notebook file (.ipynb) and convert it to extension cards.
Open Output Pane with Existing Jupyter Notebook	F1 -> Open Output Pane with Existing Jupyter Notebook	Allows the user to fully setup the Jupyter Notebook session used to execute code.
Restart Active Kernels	F1 -> Restart Active Kernels	Restart active kernels in the current session of Jupyter Notebook.

Whenever a Python or R file is opened, there is button in the editor title bar that displays the output pane. If code has been highlighted, it can also be executed via a right-hand click menu.

Actions in the output pane

The Toolbar

Search

Allows the user to search card titles and code to find the relevant cards.

• Highlights the matching text
• Supports regular expressions

Filters

Allows the user to only display the cards that match the selection.

• Plain Text: Text, Markdown
• Rich Output: Images, Interactive Objects
• Errors  

Markdown

Create custom markdown cards and be able to edit them within the extension.  

Select

Allows the user to manage multiple cards at a time, including deleting and exporting.

Export

With the press of a button, all the selected cards are exported to the Jupyter Notebook format.

The Cards

Re-arrange

Move cards using the arrows to easily organise your work.

Minimise

Collapse code, outputs and even the whole card when the user does not need it.

Open In Browser

Cards can be opened in separate windows to be easily compared side by side.

Delete

Delete the card.