I use jupytext to create three empty paired notebooks, making the setup for new articles easier
The process of creating new articles can be tedious, particularly if you use Jupyter Notebooks or JupyterLab. My best solution to date has been to use a library called jupytext. Using it, you can create different formats of Jupyter Notebooks.
A function in this script creates three copies of a new Jupyter Notebook, given
a base directory base. The files represent the same Notebook, so they can be
kept in sync. There are three file extensions: .ipynb, .py, .md. The parameters
can be adjusted according to your needs.
from os import listdir
from pathlib import Path
from slugify import slugify
from subprocess import run
from time import strftime
# Base Path
base = Path('/Users/writer/blog/posts/')
def create_new_article(base=base,name=None,date=None,date_in_fname=False):
"""Function to create a new directory for the new article,
three synced jupytext files with extensions: ipynb, py, md """
# default for date is `None`, which means the current date is used. Use a
# string value for a different date.
if type(date) == str:
date = date
else:
date=strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
# Print instructions for the case using user input for name of new article.
print("""
Enter the name of the article you want to create with or without spaces. Input
will be converted to all lower-case and cleaned. Results might not be what is
expected, if non English alphanumeric characters are used.
""")
# User input for parameter name (default) or set a value by passing a string
# value for parameter name.
if type(name) == str:
name = slugify(name)
elif name == None:
name = slugify(input("Name: "))
# Print the (cleaned) name entered by the user.
print(f'Name is: {name}')
# Define complete name of new directory using `date` and `name`.
article_dir = Path(base,f"{date}-{name}/")
# Create new directory for article to be written. Will throw an error, if it
# already exists.
article_dir.mkdir()
# Use touch to create an empty markdown file for jupytext. Will throw an
# error, if it already exists.
if date_in_fname == True:
article_file = article_dir.joinpath(f'{date}-{name}.md')
article_file.touch(mode=0o751)
else:
article_file = article_dir.joinpath(f'{name}.md')
article_file.touch(mode=0o751)
# Run jupytext command line tool via subprocess to do the setup.
# jupytext will create three files, a jupyter-notebook, a python file using
# `# %%` as markers for code cells and `# %% [markdown]` for markdown cells.
# The markdown file created earlier is used for the markdown version of the
# notebook. Using --sync on the .ipynb file will sync all three versions.
run([f'jupytext --set-formats ipynb,py:percent,md {article_file}'],shell=True)
# Check output
print(f'\n {listdir(article_dir)} \n')
create_new_article(date_in_fname=True)
Enter the name of the article you want to create with or without spaces. Input
will be converted to all lower-case and cleaned. Results might not be what is
expected, if non English alphanumeric characters are used.
Name: best-article
Name is: best-article
[jupytext] Reading /Users/tobias/all_code/projects/python_projects/portfolio_articles/_posts/2023-04-08-best-article/2023-04-08-best-article.md in format md
[jupytext] Updating notebook metadata with '{"jupytext": {"formats": "ipynb,py:percent,md"}}'
[jupytext] Updating /Users/tobias/all_code/projects/python_projects/portfolio_articles/_posts/2023-04-08-best-article/2023-04-08-best-article.ipynb
[jupytext] Updating /Users/tobias/all_code/projects/python_projects/portfolio_articles/_posts/2023-04-08-best-article/2023-04-08-best-article.md
[jupytext] Updating /Users/tobias/all_code/projects/python_projects/portfolio_articles/_posts/2023-04-08-best-article/2023-04-08-best-article.py
['2023-04-08-best-article.py', '2023-04-08-best-article.ipynb', '2023-04-08-best-article.md']