selecting perl $variables

[HY]

Hi folks,

I double-clicked a variable in a perl script today, and Paddy selected not only the variable, but also another variable written adjacently, like this:
my $newvariable = "\n$this$that";

As I double-cliked $that, $this was also selected. I sort of expected this behaviour, since I have put the $ character in the "Other characters in word" field in preferences.

Does anyone know what plans are for syntax highlighting files in future releases? (Not only for this selection matter, but also in general. It would be interesting to know about what work is being focused on).