How do I get the current IPython / Jupyter Notebook name
I am trying to obtain the current NoteBook name when running the IPython notebook. I know I can see it at the top of the notebook. What I am after something like
currentNotebook = IPython.foo.bar.notebookname()
I need to get the name in a variable.
Answer
I have the following which works with IPython 2.0. I observed that the name of the notebook is stored as the value of the attribute 'data-notebook-name' in the <body> tag of the page. Thus the idea is first to ask Javascript to retrieve the attribute --javascripts can be invoked from a codecell thanks to the %%javascript magic. Then it is possible to access to the Javascript variable through a call to the Python Kernel, with a command which sets a Python variable. Since this last variable is known from the kernel, it can be accessed in other cells as well.
%%javascript
var kernel = IPython.notebook.kernel;
var body = document.body,
attribs = body.attributes;
var command = "theNotebook = " + "'"+attribs['data-notebook-name'].value+"'";
kernel.execute(command);
From a Python code cell
print(theNotebook)
Out[ ]: HowToGetTheNameOfTheNoteBook.ipynb
A defect in this solution is that when one changes the title (name) of a notebook, then this name seems to not be updated immediately (there is probably some kind of cache) and it is necessary to reload the notebook to get access to the new name.
[Edit] On reflection, a more efficient solution is to look for the input field for notebook's name instead of the <body> tag. Looking into the source, it appears that this field has id "notebook_name". It is then possible to catch this value by a document.getElementById() and then follow the same approach as above. The code becomes, still using the javascript magic
%%javascript
var kernel = IPython.notebook.kernel;
var thename = window.document.getElementById("notebook_name").innerHTML;
var command = "theNotebook = " + "'"+thename+"'";
kernel.execute(command);
Then, from a ipython cell,
In [11]: print(theNotebook)
Out [11]: HowToGetTheNameOfTheNoteBookSolBis
Contrary to the first solution, modifications of notebook's name are updated immediately and there is no need to refresh the notebook.