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Add Cell Naming, Outline View, and Drag-and-Drop Reordering to Spark Notebooks

Summary

Improve the readability and editability of Spark Notebooks by introducing named cells, an outline view based on those names, and drag-and-drop cell reordering.

Detailed Description

1. Cell Naming

Allow users to assign a name to each notebook cell.
This name should be independent from comments and code content, and treated as metadata.

Benefits

  • Improves readability of large notebooks

  • Makes the role and intent of each cell explicit

  • Helps collaborators quickly understand notebook structure


2. Cell Outline View (Based on Cell Names)

Provide an outline / navigator panel that lists cells using their assigned names.

Benefits

  • Enables quick navigation in long notebooks

  • Provides a structural overview similar to sections in documents

  • Reduces cognitive load when reviewing or debugging


3. Drag-and-Drop Cell Reordering

Enable reordering of cells via drag & drop, ideally within the outline view as well as directly in the notebook.

Benefits

  • Makes refactoring and restructuring notebooks much easier

  • Encourages incremental cleanup and better organization

  • Aligns with how users naturally think about notebook structure


Why This Matters

As Spark Notebooks grow larger and more production-oriented,
readability and structural clarity become as important as execution correctness.

These features would:

  • Improve developer productivity

  • Reduce maintenance cost

  • Make Fabric notebooks more suitable for long-lived, team-managed workloads

Status: New