title: Find the first character of input in a textbox
body: <p>I am stuck in implementing the following:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>User starts typing in a textbox.</li>
  <li>The javascript on page captures the first character typed, validates that it is an english alphabet (a-z,A-Z) and converts it to lowercase (if necessary).</li>
  <li>Make an XMLHttp request based on the input (i.e. if first input character is a, get a.xml, if b get b.xml and so on).</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I know how to do the last part (make the xmlhttp request) but am kind of stuck on how to capture the first character and validate it (in a way that works on all browsers). Please guide. Thanks.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Clarification</strong>: This is to create a Google Suggest like autocomplete-drop-down menu without the need for server side programs.</p>