docs/source/development/session_format.txt

===============================
 IPython session storage notes
===============================

This document serves as a sample/template for ideas on how to store session
data on disk.  This stems from discussions we had on various mailing lists.

The frontend would store, for now, 5 types of data:

#. Input: this is python/ipython code to be executed.

#. Output (python): result of executing Inputs.

#. Standard output: from subprocesses.

#. Standard error: from subprocesses.

#. Text: arbitrary text.  For now, we'll just store plain text and will defer
   to the user on how to format it, though it should be valid reST if it is
   later to be converted into html/pdf.

The non-text cells would be stored on-disk as follows::

    .. input-cell::
      :id: 1

      3+3

    .. output-cell::
       :id: 1

       6

    .. input-cell::
       :id: 2

       ls

    .. stdout-cell::
       :id: 2

       a.py b.py

    .. input-cell::
       :id: 3

      !askdfj

    .. stderr-cell::
       :id: 3

       sh: askdfj: command not found