Visible bookmarks in buffer for GNU Emacs 26.x, 27.x

This package provides visible, buffer local, bookmarks and the ability to jump forward and backward to the next bookmark.

It was created because I missed the bookmarks from M$ Visual Studio in GNU Emacs. I think they provide an easy way to navigate in a buffer.

Features:

• Auto remove bookmark after jump to it by bm-next or bm-previous:
• Cycle through bookmarks in all open buffers in LIFO order
• Toggle bookmarks. Jump to next/previous bookmark.
• Setting bookmarks based on a regexp. (Useful when searching logfiles.)
• Mouse navigation.
• Annotate bookmarks.
• Different wrapping modes.
• Different bookmarks styles, line-only, fringe-only or both.
• Persistent bookmarks (buffer local), also in non-file buffers (info) and indirect buffers.
• List bookmarks (in all buffers) in a separate buffer.
• Cycle through bookmarks in all open buffers.

Known Limitations:

There are some incompatibilities with lazy-lock when using fill-paragraph. All bookmark below the paragraph being filled will be lost. This issue can be resolved using the `jit-lock-mode'.

Installation:

To use bm.el, put it in your load-path and add the following to your .emacs

(require 'bm)

or

(autoload 'bm-toggle   "bm" "Toggle bookmark in current buffer." t)
(autoload 'bm-next     "bm" "Goto bookmark."                     t)
(autoload 'bm-previous "bm" "Goto previous bookmark."            t)

Configuration:

To make it easier to use, assign the commands to some keys.

M$ Visual Studio key setup.

(global-set-key (kbd "<C-f2>") 'bm-toggle)
(global-set-key (kbd "<f2>")   'bm-next)
(global-set-key (kbd "<S-f2>") 'bm-previous)

Click on fringe to toggle bookmarks, and use mouse wheel to move between them.

(global-set-key (kbd "<left-fringe> <mouse-5>") 'bm-next-mouse)
(global-set-key (kbd "<left-fringe> <mouse-4>") 'bm-previous-mouse)
(global-set-key (kbd "<left-fringe> <mouse-1>") 'bm-toggle-mouse)

If you would like the markers on the right fringe instead of the left, add the following line:

(setq bm-marker 'bm-marker-right)

If you would like to cycle bookmark in LIFO order, add the following line:

(setq bm-in-lifo-order t)

If you would like to cycle through bookmarks in all open buffers, add the following line:

(setq bm-cycle-all-buffers t)

If you would like to remove bookmark after jump to it by bm-next or bm-previous:

(setq temporary-bookmark-p t)

or if you want use this feature in your library:

(bm-bookmark-add nil nil t)

Configuring bm.el with use-package:

Configuring bm.el with use-package

(use-package bm
         :ensure t
         :demand t

         :init
         ;; restore on load (even before you require bm)
         (setq bm-restore-repository-on-load t)


         :config
         ;; Allow cross-buffer 'next'
         (setq bm-cycle-all-buffers t)

         ;; where to store persistant files
         (setq bm-repository-file "~/.emacs.d/bm-repository")

         ;; save bookmarks
         (setq-default bm-buffer-persistence t)

         ;; Loading the repository from file when on start up.
         (add-hook 'after-init-hook 'bm-repository-load)

         ;; Saving bookmarks
         (add-hook 'kill-buffer-hook #'bm-buffer-save)

         ;; Saving the repository to file when on exit.
         ;; kill-buffer-hook is not called when Emacs is killed, so we
         ;; must save all bookmarks first.
         (add-hook 'kill-emacs-hook #'(lambda nil
                                          (bm-buffer-save-all)
                                          (bm-repository-save)))

         ;; The `after-save-hook' is not necessary to use to achieve persistence,
         ;; but it makes the bookmark data in repository more in sync with the file
         ;; state.
         (add-hook 'after-save-hook #'bm-buffer-save)

         ;; Restoring bookmarks
         (add-hook 'find-file-hooks   #'bm-buffer-restore)
         (add-hook 'after-revert-hook #'bm-buffer-restore)

         ;; The `after-revert-hook' is not necessary to use to achieve persistence,
         ;; but it makes the bookmark data in repository more in sync with the file
         ;; state. This hook might cause trouble when using packages
         ;; that automatically reverts the buffer (like vc after a check-in).
         ;; This can easily be avoided if the package provides a hook that is
         ;; called before the buffer is reverted (like `vc-before-checkin-hook').
         ;; Then new bookmarks can be saved before the buffer is reverted.
         ;; Make sure bookmarks is saved before check-in (and revert-buffer)
         (add-hook 'vc-before-checkin-hook #'bm-buffer-save)


         :bind (("<f2>" . bm-next)
                ("S-<f2>" . bm-previous)
                ("C-<f2>" . bm-toggle))
         )

Reviews and comments:

• Lockdown Beam: bm.el
• A Visual Bookmarks package for Emacs
• Bookmark Mania
• EmacsWiki: VisibleBookmarks
• A couple of useful Emacs modes
• Part of Debian package: emacs-goodies-el
• A solution to the question 'How to highlight a particular line in emacs?' on StackOverflow
• gnu.emacs.sources
  • Original posting of bm.el (31 Jan 2001)
  • Posting of first version with persistence. (12 Nov 2003)