Just adding to the conversation that this functionality can be reasonably approximated via very simple macros which you can define in your nanorc. :)

E.g., to 'save' anchors, create a macro that assumes the buffer next to your current window will save anchor-line numbers, then create the following macro:

- go to top of file
- set mark
- go to next anchor (which will create a selection)
- execute "| wc -l | xargs echo 1 + | bc"
- enter
- go back to previous buffer

This saves a single anchor; repeat for all anchors. Optionally remove anchors as you save it. You could also pull off the wc -l stunt before going to top, and use that to return to the line from which you launched the macro. Once you're done, save the buffer containing line numbers.

Similarly, to load from such a file containing anchor lines; open it, place it as the buffer to the right, and then run a macro which does the following:

- buffer right
- cut
- buffer left
- goto
- paste
- place anchor

Repeat until end of anchor file.

Simples :)

Automatically saving/restoring anchors is better. But if there's an option to activate such feature, I won't turn it on by default. As my routine editor, I don't need it to save anchors in most cases, and do not want it to scan over all the lines every time I close a file. So I have to decide whether to turn the option on or not before I open a file.

How about this way. When I insert an anchor at the first line, the feature that automatically save anchors would be activated. When I remove the anchor from the first line, the feature would be deactivated, and the saved anchor data (if exist) would be cleared. Since the first line never needs an anchor, it is a good place to be used as an indicator. I could turn it on or off whenever I want. To restore anchors, just use -P option. While open a file with -P option, the saved anchors (if exist) would be restored, and if anchors are restored, the feature that automatically save anchors would be activated again. Logically, anchors and cursor's position are the same kind of data. I think they could share the same log file and the same option.

In this way, no extra option or keybinding is needed, and doesn't add any action to nano when anchor is not used. To clear all anchors in current file, just remove the anchor from the first line, and reopen the file.

Thanks for thinking about my request. I didn't mean that automatically save anchors while saving a file and restore them when reopening the file. My thought was that have two functions, one could export anchors to a specified file, and the other one could import it later. The file is specified by user when the function is called. So that we could have the ability to manually export/import anchors just when we want to. I think it wouldn't add slowdowns to nano. I'm not sure that I can accomplish such a patch. But I'd like to have a try when I have time.

I'm trying to code with nano. Anchors are very useful to me, since there are thousands of lines. But anchors can't be saved. When I reopen the code, I have to place those anchors again. I'd like to have the ability to import/export anchors. Or is there any good solution else? Thanks.