Export objects not paths

[PlaneAnimal]

Hello everyone,
I have a question regarding how objects in Inkscape are saved to file / exported. If I draw a perfect circle (ctrl key + drag, no fill)
when I select the object , Inkscape reports at the window bottom Circle in layer... The file is saved as SVG, When read back the
object still identifies as circle.  Yet if I open the Objects sidebar, it is reported as a path !  Moreover, it is stored as a series of points (path).

Is there any way to export or save the object(s) as a circle, say center point and radius  ?  I have tried multiple extensions and they all export
multipoint paths.  This leads me to believe that Inkscape must be storing circles / elipse as paths and not geometric elements.

Thanks for your help and the wonderful software.

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

Interesting - I would guess that's a bug which identifies the Circle shape as a path, in Objects dialog.  I don't know if it's been reported or not.  (https://launchpad.net/inkscape)

However, saving the file as SVG, I still see the circle shape, and don't see any nodes.

Could you be mistaking the circle handles ( 2 squares and a circles) as nodes?  Or could you have mistakenly converted the circle to a path?

Edit
Besides the status bar, you could further confirm the identity of an object in the XML Editor.

[PlaneAnimal]

Hi brynn,
Thanks for the welcome.

Interesting you are correct (obviously),  I had not explored the xml editor. 
Will look at using it, seems what I'm looking for.

Thank you