Perl language syntax highlighting troubles (bug or limitation ?)

[guy038]

Hello @gilles-maisonneuve, @eko-palypse, @meta-chuh, @alan-kilborn, @peterjones and All,

Ah ! So I’m going to do the 101th post ;-)) Don’t worry, I won’t be [too] long ! I will :

• Explain why my previous regexes did not work ( almost obvious )

• Give you a new version of all the regexes, used in the EkoPalypse script, which :

  • Matches the case qq|qr|qw|qx|q with the < and > delimiters

  • Matches the case of here-docs, containing an escaped delimiter ( \' or \" ), inside the starting and ending blocks ( legal syntax )

For information, refer to :

https://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html

And particularly :

https://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html#Quote-Like-Operators

https://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html#Quote-and-Quote-like-Operators

---

So, Gilles, in my previous regexes, I used the single quote symbol as it ! At that moment I just tested the regular expressions, without using the Python script :-((

Once I decided to use the Eko’s script, I quickly understood that the single quote symbol is, first, interpreted by the Python engine. So, when I changed any ' single quote with the syntax \x27, in my previous regexes, everything went OK ;-))

---

Then, I decided to test the m Perl instruction, first, with all possible delimiters ( See my .pl test file, below )

For instance :

m bPATTERNb
m ZPATTERNZ
m 0PATTERN0
m _PATTERN_
m(PATTERN)
m<PATTERN>
m [PATTERN]
m {PATTERN}
m!PATTERN!
m"PATTERN"
m/PATTERN/
m $PATTERN$
m %PATTERN%
m &PATTERN&
....
....

On the same way, I tried all syntaxes of the PERL instruction qrDelimiterPATTERNDelimiter So, in regex #1, relative to the q PERL instructions, I enumerated all possible delimiters, different from a word char and from the four sets () [] {} <>, in the character class [!"#$%&\x27*+,./:;=?@``|~\\^-]

Note that in that regex #1, I used the special syntax (?|........|.......|... ....|....), which forces the renumbering of the groups, located inside the group, for each alternative ! ( See an example, at the end of that post )

Then, I tried to enumerate all the variations of the here-docs syntax, including special cases as, for instance

$x=<< "TE\"XT";
Plain text here
TE"XT

And I succeeded to manage this case in my new regexes #3 and #4 ;-))

However, note that the highlighting of any here-document is effective ONLY IF the ending text is visible, in the current editor window !

---

So, here are my new regexes :

# Color every instruction word qq|qr|qw|qx|q with PERL Style 5 ( r = 0 v = 0 b = 255 => Blue )

regexes[(1, 5)] = (r'(?s-i)\bq[qrwx]?(?|\h*([!"#$%&\x27*+,./:;=?@`|~\\^-])|\h+(\w)).*?\1', [0])
regexes[(2, 5)] = (r'(?s-i)\bq[qrwx]?\h*(\(.+?\)|\[.+?\]|\{.+?\}|<.+?>)', [0])

# Color every here-document with the USER color r = 255 g = 0 b = 255 ( => Magenta )

regexes[(3, (255,0,255))] = (r'(?s-i)(<<)([\x27"]?)(?|(\w+)\\([\x27"]\w+)|(\w+)())\2\h*;.*?\3\4', [1])
regexes[(4, (255,0,255))] = (r'(?s-i)(<<)\h+(\x27|")(?|(\w+)\\([\x27"]\w+)|(\w+)())\2\h*;.*?\3\4', [1,3,4])

# If, on addition, you want to highlight the END of here-docs :

#regexes[(3, (255,0,255))] = (r'(?s-i)(<<)([\x27"]?)(?|(\w+)\\([\x27"]\w+)|(\w+)())\2\h*;.*?(\3)(\4)', [1,5,6])
#regexes[(4, (255,0,255))] = (r'(?s-i)(<<)\h+(\x27|")(?|(\w+)\\([\x27"]\w+)|(\w+)())\2\h*;.*?(\3)(\4)', [1,3,4,5,6])

If you want to know how these regexes work, I could give you some hints, next time. Just too lazy to do it, right now ;-))

Note also, that I added, in comments, regexes #3 and #4 if you want, also, highlight the end of here-docs, by placing the back-references \3 and \4, inside parentheses => Two new groups 5 and 6

Remark : Do not delete the empty group () in regexes #3 and #4 : it represents an empty group 4, re-used by the back-reference \4

---

And, of course, here is, below, the Test_Gilles.pl file, used to test these 4 new regexes :

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Various examples of INSTRUCTION WORDS q, qq, qr, qw, qx, highlighted with the PYTHON script

q/ok/error    q(ok);
qrw/ok/error    q(ok);
qq/ok/error;   qq{ok};
qr/ok/error;   qr(ok);
qw/ok/error;   qw[ok];
qq/ok/error;   qx(ok);

q        xokxerror      q (ok);
qq     hokherror;     qq {ok};
qr                      rokerror;    qr  (ok);
qw aokaerror;   qw [ok];
qx    zokzerror;   qx (ok);

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my var1 = q xfoobarx;
my var2 = q getservbyname g;
my var3 = q getservbyname getservbyent;
my var4 = qx{ verify > NUL: };
my var5 = qr/$singer.*grand chanteur/;

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

$bar = q(\n);              # or   $bar = '\n'

$foo = qq(\n);             # or   $bar = "\n" ( Interpolation )

$abc = qx(echo .);         # or   $abc = `echo .`

$perl_info  = qx(ps $$);   # That's Perl's $$
$shell_info = qx'ps $$';   # That's the new shell's $$

use POSIX qw( setlocale localeconv )
@EXPORT = qw( foo bar baz );

qr/PATTERN/msixpodualn     # Interpolation occurs unless delimiter is a SINGLE quote '

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

$r = qr//;
$rex = qr/my.STRING/is;
$re = qr/$pattern/;
qr/$_/i

next if qr#^/usr/spool/uucp# ;

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 my $sentence_rx = qr&
   (?: (?<=^) | (?<=\s) )  # after start-of-string or # whitespace
   \p{Lu}                  # capital letter
   .*?                     # a bunch of anything
   [.?!]                   # followed by a sentence ender
   (?= $ | \s )            # in front of end-of-string or whitespace
  &sx;

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cases where WHITESPACE must be used are when the QUOTING character is a WORD character :

q XfooX                    # Means the string 'foo'
qx XfooX                   # Means the string 'foo', too

qXfooX                     # WRONG !
qxXfooX                    # WRONG !

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# There can (and in some cases, must) be WHITESPACE between the operator and
# the quoting characters, EXCEPT when # is being used as the quoting character :
#
# q#foo# is parsed as the string foo , while q #foo# is the operator q followed by a
# comment. So, its argument will be taken from the next line.

q#foo#

q #foo#   #  => ONLY q SHOULD be colored ( Exception )

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Instruction Word m, already CORRECTLY highlighted, by DEFAULT, by Scintilla :

mBPATTERNB   # KO ( normal )
mZPATTERNZ   # KO ( normal )
mbPATTERNb   # KO ( normal )
mzPATTERNz   # KO ( normal )
m0PATTERN0   # KO ( normal )
m9PATTERN9   # KO ( normal )
m_PATTERN_   # KO ( normal )

m BPATTERNB
m ZPATTERNZ
m zPATTERNz
m 0PATTERN0
m 9PATTERN9
m _PATTERN_

m(PATTERN)
m<PATTERN>
m[PATTERN]
m{PATTERN}

m (PATTERN)
m <PATTERN>
m [PATTERN]
m {PATTERN}

m!PATTERN!
m"PATTERN"
m#PATTERN#
m$PATTERN$
m%PATTERN%
m&PATTERN&
m'PATTERN'
m*PATTERN*
m+PATTERN+
m,PATTERN,
m-PATTERN-
m.PATTERN.
m/PATTERN/
m:PATTERN:
m;PATTERN;
m=PATTERN=
m?PATTERN?
m@PATTERN@
m\PATTERN\
m^PATTERN^
m`PATTERN`
m|PATTERN|
m~PATTERN~

m !PATTERN!
m "PATTERN"
m #PATTERN#
m $PATTERN$
m %PATTERN%
m &PATTERN&
m 'PATTERN'
m *PATTERN*
m +PATTERN+
m ,PATTERN,
m -PATTERN-
m .PATTERN.
m /PATTERN/
m :PATTERN:
m ;PATTERN;
m =PATTERN=
m ?PATTERN?
m @PATTERN@
m \PATTERN\
m ^PATTERN^
m `PATTERN`
m |PATTERN|
m ~PATTERN~

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Instruction Word qr, CORRECTLY highlighted, with the PYTHON script :

qrBPATTERNB    # KO ( normal )
qrZPATTERNZ    # KO ( normal )
qrbPATTERNb    # KO ( normal )
qrzPATTERNz    # KO ( normal )
qr0PATTERN0    # KO ( normal )
qr9PATTERN9    # KO ( normal )
qr_PATTERN_    # KO ( normal )

qr BPATTERNB
qr ZPATTERNZ
qr bPATTERNb
qr zPATTERNz
qr 0PATTERN0
qr 9PATTERN9
qr _PATTERN_

qr(PATTERN)
qr<PATTERN>
qr[PATTERN]
qr{PATTERN}

qr (PATTERN)
qr <PATTERN>
qr [PATTERN]
qr {PATTERN}

qr!PATTERN!
qr"PATTERN"
qr#PATTERN#
qr$PATTERN$
qr%PATTERN%
qr&PATTERN&
qr'PATTERN'
qr*PATTERN*
qr+PATTERN+
qr,PATTERN,
qr-PATTERN-
qr.PATTERN.
qr/PATTERN/
qr:PATTERN:
qr;PATTERN;
qr=PATTERN=
qr?PATTERN?
qr@PATTERN@
qr\PATTERN\
qr^PATTERN^
qr`PATTERN`
qr|PATTERN|
qr~PATTERN~

qr !PATTERN!
qr "PATTERN"
qr #PATTERN#
qr $PATTERN$
qr %PATTERN%
qr &PATTERN&
qr 'PATTERN'
qr *PATTERN*
qr +PATTERN+
qr ,PATTERN,
qr -PATTERN-
qr .PATTERN.
qr /PATTERN/
qr :PATTERN:
qr ;PATTERN;
qr =PATTERN=
qr ?PATTERN?
qr @PATTERN@
qr \PATTERN\
qr ^PATTERN^
qr `PATTERN`
qr |PATTERN|
qr ~PATTERN~

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# For completeness, << as shift operator

$b = (1 << 5);

#  Here-documents, CORRECTLY highlighted, with the PYTHON script :

$x=<<TEXT;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<'TEXT';
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<"TEXT";
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<'TE"XT';
Plain text here
TE"XT

$x=<<"TE'XT";
Plain text here
TE'XT

# Here-documents, with a SPACE char, before the SEMI-COLON

$x=<<TEXT ;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<'TEXT' ;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<"TEXT" ;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<'TE"XT' ;
Plain text here
TE"XT

$x=<<"TE'XT" ;
Plain text here
TE'XT


#  Here-documents, with the ESCAPED delimiter in the TEXT, CORRECTLY highlighted, too !

$x=<<'TE\'XT';
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<<"TE\"XT";
Plain text here
TE"XT

# The SAME + a SPACE char, before the SEMI-COLON

$x=<<'TE\'XT' ;
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<<"TE\"XT" ;
Plain text here
TE"XT

# Here-documents with SPACE highlights as operator, in Notepad++

$x=<< 'TEXT';
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<< "TEXT";
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<< 'TE"XT';
Plain text here
TE"XT

$x=<< "TE'XT";
Plain text here
TE'XT

# The SAME + a SPACE char, before the SEMI-COLON

$x=<< 'TEXT' ;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<< "TEXT" ;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<< 'TE"XT' ;
Plain text here
TE"XT

$x=<< "TE'XT" ;
Plain text here
TE'XT

#  Here-docs with SPACE highlights as operator, and the ESCAPED delimiter in TEXT, CORRECTLY highlighted !

$x=<< 'TE\'XT';
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<< "TE\"XT";
Plain text here
TE"XT

# The SAME + a SPACE char, before the SEMI-COLON

$x=<< 'TE\'XT' ;
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<< "TE\"XT" ;
Plain text here
TE"XT


#-----  Note that MULTIPLE Here-docs are NOT managed, yet -:(( -----

print <<"foo", <<"bar"; # you can stack them
I said foo.
foo
I said bar.
bar

myfunc(<< "THIS", 23, <<'THAT');
Here's a line
or two.
THIS
and here's another.
THAT

#------------------ END ----------------------------

Cheers,

guy038

P.S :

Here a simple example of the (?|......|.......|.......)

Let’s suppose that you want to match these two expressions :

foo12345fooABCDE
bar12345barABCDE

A classic syntax should be (foo)12345\1ABCDE|(bar)12345\2ABCDE, where group 1 = foo and group 2 = bar

But you can use this second shorter regex (?|(foo)|(bar))12345\1ABCDE, where group 1 represents, either, foo or bar, depending of the part of the alternative has matched

For a more complete example, refer to :

https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_55_0/libs/regex/doc/html/boost_regex/syntax/perl_syntax.html#boost_regex.syntax.perl_syntax.branch_reset

This (?|PATTERN) syntax is, commonly, called a branch-reset !

[Gilles Maisonneuve]

@guy038
Thanks.
I picked your 4th regex with END of here doc coloring included.
Just changed once again the \h+ in \h* to allow for no space between previous keyword or variable and the ‘<<’ operator.

I think I’m going to use the regexp and python scripts provided in this thread to enhanced other syntax hilighting (I think about CMD and Yori for example. It’ll make me progress in Python, now that I have tested and tasted it.

Thanks to all again.

Gilles

[Gilles Maisonneuve]

@Ekopalypse

Hello Eko,

I met the following shortcoming with the q* coloring:
use subs qw(divide_by_hand resultline is_fine_resultline resultline_len fine_resultline_len);
works fine, but if I want to split my qw() in 2 lines (because is becoming to be too long on the right side of screen), then I do:

use subs qw(divide_by_hand resultline is_fine_resultline
            resultline_len fine_resultline_len);

and I loose the coloring.

Could it be possible with python to include CRLF/NL (\n) in the pattern so that I can fold my qw (and even my other q*) statements ?

[Ekopalypse]

@Gilles-Maisonneuve

Hello Gilles,

how about using the single-line modifier (?s) in front of the regex?
r'(?s)\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b\h*(\(.+?\)|\[.+?\]|\{.+?\})'

This should do the job, I assume.

Concerning the idea of using the script for multiple languages at the same time.
Currently the issue is that a second script would overwrite the variables
like regexes, BUILTIN_LEXER, EnhanceBuiltinLexer etc… which would break
the logic of the first script.
My first thought would be ensuring namespace integrity, which means the script
needs to get modified in a way that no code gets be executed while importing the script. Which then would result in something like
import EnhancePerlLexer to import the script and an additional
EnhancePerlLexer.start() to activate it. Other scripts would then be configured like

import EnhanceCmdLexer and EnhanceCmdLexer.start() etc…

Another way would be to make a base class and overwrite it … hmm… need to think about it. Will try to find a way which is reasonable and easy to adapt.
Will keep you informed.

Have a nice Sunday and greetings
Eren

[Gilles Maisonneuve]

@Ekopalypse

Hello Eren,

Worked like a charm (the (?s) syntax), thank you.

About the multiple language script… well I did not get your point exactly beside the fact that it is a lot more tricky than I thought. So, lazy as I am to learn Python, I’ll wait for you to find a solution to put in your EnhancePerlLexer.py (which then would become EnhanceAnyLexer.py).

Whenever you have time…

Thanks for all.

Gilles

[Gilles Maisonneuve]

Changed the regexp from:
regexes[(1, (128,0,128))] = (r'(?s)\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b([^\h]).*?\1|(\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b\h+(\w).*?\3)', [0])
to:
..........................................................vv
regexes[(1, (128,0,128))] = (r'(?s)\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b([^\h])\b.*?\1|(\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b\h+(\w).*?\3)', [0])

so that

qw( my words here
       are colored but not the remaing text after
       the closing parenthese, until it finds another one...);

Without the word boundary when I used "qw(" instead of "qw (" I got the coloring extending past the closing ) (respectively {...}, [..], etc.)

I know that this regex does not fit the full Perl syntax capability (any char separator like in @array = qw xfoo bar quux; -> @array = ('foo','bar','quu');) but I only use common separators like /{[()]}/. I leave it to someone else to figure this out…

[guy038]

Hello, @gilles-maisonneuve,

If you decide to use \h*, instead of \h+, in regex #4, then, some configurations can be found, either, with the regexes #3 and #4 ! So, to be rigorous, you could use, other regexes, which define two disjoint sets :

• Here-doc documents, with TEXT, right after the << operator ( regex #3 )

• Here-doc documents, with TEXT, after the << operator and possible space chars and a mandatory delimiter ' or ' ( regex #4 )

So, in the Python script :

# Color every "here-document" with the USER color r = 255 g = 0 b = 255 ( => Magenta )
regexes[(3, (255,0,255))] = (r'(?s-i)(<<)(\w+)\h*;.*?\2', [1])
regexes[(4, (255,0,255))] = (r'(?s-i)(<<)\h*(\x27|")(?|(\w+)\\?([\x27"]\w+)|(\w+)())\2\h*;.*?\3\4', [1,3,4])

Tested, with success, against the Perl file “Test_2_Gilles.pl”, recapitulating all cases, below :

#----- NO SPACE nor " nor ', AFTER << ----- Colored with Regex #3 -----

$x=<<TEXT;
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<TEXT;
Plain text here
TEXT

#----- DELIMITER " or ', AFTER << ----- Colored with Regex #4 -----

$x=<<"TEXT";
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<<'TE"XT' ;
Plain text here
TE"XT

$x=<<"TE'XT" ;
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<<'TE\'XT';
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<<"TE\"XT";
Plain text here
TE"XT

#----- SPACE(S) + DELIMITER " or ', AFTER << ----- Colored with Regex #4 -----

$x=<< 'TEXT';
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<< "TEXT";
Plain text here
TEXT

$x=<< 'TE"XT';
Plain text here
TE"XT

$x=<< "TE'XT";
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<< 'TE\'XT';
Plain text here
TE'XT

$x=<< "TE\"XT";
Plain text here
TE"XT

#------------------------- END --------------------------

Cheers,

guy038

[Ekopalypse]

I’m testing the EnhanceAnyBuiltinLexer right now and I noticed a situation where I don’t know exactly how to solve it better.
The issue is the following.
Assume that the text, which should get colored, are multiple lines. When the start or the end of that text is not within the visible area then the whole text is not colored.
I assume that is what @guy038 was mentioning.
:-(
To avoid this I use a sliding window approach (term borrowed from networks :-), which means as long as the first visible line is not greater than 15 the algorithm starts from line 0 and afterwards it is current line minus 15. Similar the end line gets added 15 unless the maximum lines would be reached.

Not nice, but works as long as there is no text, which should be colored, contains more than 15 lines.

Any ideas how I could solve it differently?

Here the current code - maybe this makes it easier to understand what I’m trying to solve.

        start_line = editor.docLineFromVisible(editor.getFirstVisibleLine())
        end_line = editor.docLineFromVisible(start_line + editor.linesOnScreen())

        start_line -= 15 if start_line > 15 else 0

        max_line = editor.getLineCount()
        if editor.getWrapMode():
            end_line = sum([editor.wrapCount(x) for x in range(end_line)])
        end_line += 15 if max_line - 15 > end_line else max_line

        start_position = editor.positionFromLine(start_line)
        end_position = editor.getLineEndPosition(end_line)

        editor.setIndicatorCurrent(self.INDICATOR_ID)
        editor.indicatorClearRange(0, editor.getTextLength())
        for color, regex in self.regexes.items():
            editor.research(regex[0],
                            lambda match: self.paint_it(color[1],
                                                        regex[1],
                                                        match),
                            0,
                            start_position,
                            end_position)

Thank you.

[Alan Kilborn]

@Ekopalypse

You have a good approach, I think. The only really great solution, that is great in one way and bad in another, is to lex over the entire document constantly. Obviously the problem with that is that it could take a great deal of time.

In keeping with your current approach, have you considered what happens when lines are folded or hidden? It seems that this would alter how far you need to “reach” beyond the current line (in both directions).

Pythonscript/Scintilla has editor.docLineFromVisible() which may be of some use for this situation. Notepad++ itself uses it as well, see https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/blob/master/PowerEditor/src/ScitillaComponent/SmartHighlighter.cpp#L83-L104

[Ekopalypse]

@Alan-Kilborn

thank you very much for your insight, very much appreciated.

Obviously the problem with that is that it could take a great deal of time.

Right, I tested with a 5000 lines of code script and there was a noticeable delay.

In keeping with your current approach, have you considered what happens when lines are folded or hidden?

Yes, I’ve tested different scenarios when upper part has folded/hidden text or
within current visible area and bottom but neither of those are re-calculated,
so, you are right - this can become another issue.
What if hundreds of lines are folded but within the calculated range?
Need to test this more thoroughly.

Pythonscript/Scintilla has editor.docLineFromVisible()

:-D yes, - looks like the first two lines of the example :-)

Again, thank you very much.

[Ekopalypse]

@Gilles-Maisonneuve

I’ve played with that for nearly two days and it seems to work.
Folding with ~10000 lines within the visible area seems to work without
any noticeable delay but a test with 20000 lines revealed already its weakness.

The issue about having multiple lines colored is still open, the workaround
extends the visible area by 15 lines. If this should be changed, then you have to
change this line self.offset_line = 15 # hack - see style function for more info
But be warned, the performance of the script comes from the fact that it tries to color
only the visible area every time an updateui event is fired and not by styling
the whole script every time.

The following should be copied into a script, let’s call it EnhanceAnyBuiltinLexer.py

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
from Npp import editor, editor1, editor2, notepad, NOTIFICATION, SCINTILLANOTIFICATION, INDICATORSTYLE, INDICFLAG
from collections import OrderedDict
from itertools import groupby, count

SC_INDICVALUEBIT = 0x1000000


class SingletonEnhanceLexer(type):
        '''
            Ensures, more or less, that only one
            instance of the main class can be instantiated
        '''

        _instance = None

        def __call__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
            if cls._instance is None:
                cls._instance = super(SingletonEnhanceLexer, cls).__call__(*args, **kwargs)
            return cls._instance


class EnhanceLexer(object):
    '''
        Provides additional color options and should be used
        in conjunction with the built-in lexers.
        An indicator is used to avoid style collisions.
        Although the Scintilla documentation states that indicators 0-7 are
        reserved for the lexers, indicator 0 is used because none of the
        builtin lexers uses it internally.
        Actually, it looks like python lexer is the only lexer at all
        which uses an idicator and its value is 1

        Even when using more than one regex, it is not necessary
        to define more than one indicator because the class uses
        the flag SC_INDICFLAG_VALUEFORE.
        See https://www.scintilla.org/ScintillaDoc.html#Indicators
        for more information on that topic
    '''
    __metaclass__ = SingletonEnhanceLexer

    def __init__(self):
        '''
            Instantiates the class, defines global indicator settings,
            registers callbacks and initializes needed variables.
            Because of __metaclass__ = ... usage, is called once only.
        '''
        editor1.indicSetStyle(0, INDICATORSTYLE.TEXTFORE)
        editor1.indicSetFlags(0, INDICFLAG.VALUEFORE)
        editor2.indicSetStyle(0, INDICATORSTYLE.TEXTFORE)
        editor2.indicSetFlags(0, INDICFLAG.VALUEFORE)
        editor.callbackSync(self.on_updateui, [SCINTILLANOTIFICATION.UPDATEUI])
        editor.callbackSync(self.on_marginclick, [SCINTILLANOTIFICATION.MARGINCLICK])
        notepad.callback(self.on_langchanged, [NOTIFICATION.LANGCHANGED])
        notepad.callback(self.on_bufferactivated, [NOTIFICATION.BUFFERACTIVATED])
        self.INDICATOR_ID = 0
        self.registered_lexers = dict()
        self.doc_is_of_interest = False
        self.lexer_name = ''
        self.regexes = OrderedDict()
        self.excluded_styles = []
        self.offset_line = 15  # hack - see style function for more info


    def register_lexer(self, lexer_name, _regexes, excluded_styles):
        '''

            reformat provided regexes and cache everything
            within registered_lexers dictionary.

            Args:
                lexer_name = string, expected values as returned by editor.getLexerLanguage()
                _regexes = OrderedDict either in form of
                           _regexes[(int, int)] = (r'', [int]) or
                           _regexes[(int, (r, g, b))] = (r'', [int])
                excluded_styles = list of integers
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        self.lexer_name = lexer_name.lower()
        for k, v in _regexes.items():
            if isinstance(k[1], tuple):
                fg_color = k[1]
            else:
                fg_color = editor.styleGetFore(k[1])

            self.regexes[(k[0], self.rgb(*fg_color) | SC_INDICVALUEBIT)] = v

        self.registered_lexers[self.lexer_name] = (self.regexes, excluded_styles)


    def check_lexer(self):
        '''
            Checks if the current document is of interest.
            If it is, loads the cached regexes and exclusion list.
            Sets the document flag accordingly

            Args:
                None
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        self.lexer_name = editor.getLexerLanguage().lower()
        if self.lexer_name in self.registered_lexers:
            self.regexes, self.excluded_styles = self.registered_lexers[self.lexer_name]
            self.doc_is_of_interest = True
        else:
            self.doc_is_of_interest = False


    @staticmethod
    def rgb(r, g, b):
        '''
            Helper function
            Retrieves rgb color triple and converts it
            into its integer representation

            Args:
                r = integer, red color value in range of 0-255
                g = integer, green color value in range of 0-255
                b = integer, blue color value in range of 0-255
            Returns:
                integer
        '''
        return (b << 16) + (g << 8) + r


    def paint_it(self, color, matchgroups, match):
        '''
            This is where the actual coloring takes place.
            Color, matchgroups and match object must be provided.
            Matchgroups define which group(s) is(are) of interest
            Coloring occurs only if the position is not within the excluded range.

            Args:
                color = integer, expected in range of 0-16777215
                matchgroups = list of integers
                match = python re.match object
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        for group in matchgroups:
            start_pos = match.span(group)[0]

            if start_pos < 0 or editor.getStyleAt(start_pos) in self.excluded_styles:
                continue

            editor.setIndicatorCurrent(self.INDICATOR_ID)
            editor.setIndicatorValue(color)
            editor.indicatorFillRange(start_pos, match.span(group)[1] - start_pos)


    def style(self):
        '''
            Calculates the text area to be searched for in the current document.
            Deletes the old indicators before setting new ones, searches for
            the defined regexes and calls colorize function on match.

            Args:
                None
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        # TODO:
        # In cases where it is needed to color multiple lines there is a glitch
        # which affects coloring, if either start or end of that text is not visible.
        # Current workaround extends the visible area by self.offset_line lines,
        # which obviously won't work if more than self.offset_line lines need to be colored.
        # Need to find a better way to make sure that those parts do get colored as well.
        #
        # Maybe doing some kind of background caching and recalculate
        # only when there are changes in the document?

        start_line = editor.docLineFromVisible(editor.getFirstVisibleLine())
        end_line = editor.docLineFromVisible(start_line + editor.linesOnScreen())

        start_line -= self.offset_line if start_line > self.offset_line else 0

        max_line = editor.getLineCount()
        if editor.getWrapMode():
            end_line = sum([editor.wrapCount(x) for x in range(end_line)])

        end_line += self.offset_line if max_line - self.offset_line > end_line else max_line

        if editor.getAllLinesVisible():
            groups = [(start_line, end_line)]
        else:
            visible_lines = [x for x in range(start_line, end_line) if editor.getLineVisible(x)]
            groups = [tuple(x) for _, x in groupby(visible_lines, key=lambda n, c=count(): n - next(c))]

        editor.setIndicatorCurrent(self.INDICATOR_ID)
        editor.indicatorClearRange(0, editor.getTextLength())

        for group in groups:
            start_position = editor.positionFromLine(group[0])
            end_position = editor.getLineEndPosition(group[-1])

            for color, regex in self.regexes.items():
                editor.research(regex[0],
                                lambda match: self.paint_it(color[1],
                                                            regex[1],
                                                            match),
                                0,
                                start_position,
                                end_position)


    def on_bufferactivated(self, args):
        '''
            Callback which gets called every time one switches a document.
            Triggers the check if the document is of interest.

            Args:
                provided by notepad object but none are of interest
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        self.check_lexer()


    def on_updateui(self, args):
        '''
            Callback which gets called every time scintilla
            (aka the editor) changed something within the document.

            Triggers the styling function if the document is of interest.

            Args:
                provided by scintilla but none are of interest
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        if self.doc_is_of_interest:
            self.style()


    def on_langchanged(self, args):
        '''
            Callback gets called every time one uses the Language menu to set a lexer
            Triggers the check if the document is of interest

            Args:
                provided by notepad object but none are of interest
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        self.check_lexer()


    def on_marginclick(self, args):
        '''
            Callback which gets called every time one clicks into the margin columns.
            margin 2 is the one of interest

            Triggers the styling function if the document is of interest.

            Args:
                margin returns an integer of the currently used column
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        if args['margin'] == 2 and self.doc_is_of_interest:
            self.style()


    def main(self):
        '''
            Main function entry point.
            Simulates two events to enforce detection of current document
            and potential styling.

            Args:
                None
            Returns:
                None
        '''
        self.on_bufferactivated(None)
        self.on_updateui(None)

Then, within either the user startup.py or any other new script the following should be
copied into.
Note, I haven’t updated the perl regexes so those might not be the one you want to use.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
from collections import OrderedDict
import EnhanceAnyBuiltinLexer
enhance_lexer = EnhanceAnyBuiltinLexer.EnhanceLexer()

# perl definitions starts
regexes = OrderedDict()
regexes[(1, 5)] = (r'\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b([^\h]).*?\1|(\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b\h+(\w).*?\3)', [0])
regexes[(2, 5)] = (r'(?s)\bq[rwqx]{0,1}\b\h*(\(.+?\)|\[.+?\]|\{.+?\})', [0])
regexes[(3, (255,0,0))] = (r'(?s)(\s*(<<)\s*("{0,1}.+"{0,1})\s*;.*?\3)', [0])
excluded_styles = [1, 2]
enhance_lexer.register_lexer('perl', regexes, excluded_styles)
# perl definitions ends


# python definitions starts
regexes = OrderedDict()
regexes[(0, (224, 108, 117))] = (u'\\b(cls|self)\\b', [0])
regexes[(1, (209, 154, 102))] = (u'(?:(?:def)\s\w+)\s*\((.+)\):', [1])
regexes[(2, (86, 182, 194))]  = (u'(\*|\*\*)(?=\w)', [0])
regexes[(3, (79, 175, 239))]  = (u'class\s*\w+?(?=\()|def\s*\w+?(?=\()|(\w+?(?=\())', [1])
regexes[(4, (86, 182, 194))]  = (u'\\b(editor|editor1|editor2|notepad|console|__init__|__call__|__del__|super|object|type|print)\\b', [0])
excluded_styles = [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12]
enhance_lexer.register_lexer('python', regexes, excluded_styles)
# python definitions ends

# 
# put additional definitions for other lexers here
#

# should be last statement
# first current document doesn't trigger bufferactivated 
# therefore call main to simulate it
enhance_lexer.main()

[PeterJones]

For those being directed here by other links from the forum, @Ekopalypse has a newer version available at his github, here.