Q&A: View next time

Question. Mathematica displayed my figures when I used the function view at one session. I saved my notebook. Why doesn´t Mathematica display my figures now at a new session after I open the same notebook?

Answer. Any graphics display that was in the notebook when you saved it should still be there when you open the notebook again at another session.  But if you want to display a new figure, the functions involved, such as view and image have to be defined at the new session.  At the new session, you have to again evaluate cells that contain their definitions—either in that same notebook or in another one, such as my notebook View.nb.

When you save a notebook, Mathematica merely saves a representation of what you see on-screen—input cells, output cells, graphics cells, text cells, etc.  It does not remember how it produced the output and graphics cells.  So at a new session (or whenever you restart the Mathematica kernel), Mathematica knows nothing except its built-in rules; you have to evaluate input cells to teach it again rules such as what view means.

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