I cannot seem to get it to work nor find any non-documentation references to it in the source code. I’m trying to setup notebooks to run full-scale analyses on github while only running quick-to-execute versions in the local development environment. This requires that the full or at least most of the notebook be executed in the docs workflow. Inserting a ton of exec_doc directives is becoming tedious, so I’m looking for a better solution.
As of my knowledge cutoff date in January 2022, there’s no official exec_all directive in nbdev. The usual approach is to use #hide and #export for code control, while #hide can be used to hide code cells that should not be executed in the documentation workflow. Please check for any updates or changes in nbdev documentation or GitHub repository for the most current information.
The current docs do say exec_all can be put in the front matter: https://nbdev.fast.ai/explanations/docs.html#forcing-cells-to-execute
The front matter is different from a “directive,” though. How have you tried putting exec_all in the front matter?
From this, I’m guessing you are aware of the docs linked above and have tried putting it in the front matter. If it’s true that “exec_all” does not appear in the current source code, you may be right that it is not actually implemented. Something similar happened in this case: Remove export-other from directives doc by hugetim · Pull Request #1291 · fastai/nbdev · GitHub
In Sept. 2022, someone else reported ‘exec_all’ wasn’t working, without apparent follow-up: Nbdev v2 & Jupyter Widgets - #8 by tylere