Is it possible to have a mouseover trigger over typed text in inputs?

Question

Suppose I have a simple <input type="text">, is it possible to add a Javascript listener to listen for when a user mouseover a typed text inside that input? If so, could I also know exactly which letter (or position in the string) they are currently moused over?

I am willing to use JS frameworks like jQuery to achieve this.

Answer 1

Nope. Letters in an input are not HTML elements. You need HTML elements to have event handlers.

The only way to accomplish this is to hide the input box and have a fake one over top and wrap each individual letter in a SPAN as you type. That way each letter is within an actual HTML element.