AE ENHANCERS

Hi there, I'm trying to find a way to make solids or shape layers build a basic rectangle around each word in a body of type. I am working on a project that requires this specific look on a large body of scrolling type, and the only way I can think to do it so far is to create every rectangle by hand. I am curious if there is a way to do this by scripting. Basically, every letter and punctuation mark needs a rectangle around it - everything but spaces.

I have included a sample script - it is from CS4.
https://files.me.com/theatomicwonder/6emjym

This could be with several solids or shape layers, or just one with several shapes or masks inside it. Colour is not important - as I can change it later. I would rather not break up the type later since I may need to make changes to it later.

That's it. It sounds simple enough, but I have no idea how or if AE can even tell the differences in between words and letters and then assign a pixel position to a shape. But, even after 5 years, there is yet much I do not know about the depths of this program.

Thank you all for trying.