Flex alert with TextInput as well as buttons

This function creates a pair of textinput/label, where label.text is binded to data in textinput. This should be a good starting point for your code.

private function createTextFieldWithLabel ():void
{
    var tf:TextInput = new TextInput();
    var label:Label = new Label();
    var binding:ChangeWatcher = BindingUtils.bindProperty(label, "text", tf, "text");
    var hbox:HBox = new HBox();
    hbox.addChild(tf);
    hbox.addChild(label);
    addChild(hbox);
}

first thanks to dan for his answer. I tried it, and it didn't work.

However, dan's post pointed me to the right direction.

First, to place you in a better context, let me show the main mxml file (SimpleCart.mxml):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" 
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" 
               xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo" 
               xmlns:ctrl="controls.*"
               xmlns:cart="cart.*"
               minWidth="1024" minHeight="768" >
    <s:layout>
        <s:BasicLayout/>
    </s:layout>
    <fx:Style source="SimpleCart.css"/>
    <ctrl:NewItem id="buttonAddItem" x="9" y="15" width="394" height="27"/>     
    <cart:SmartShoppingCart  x="8" y="47" width="378"/>         
</s:Application>

I think the problem is that the component grouping the Label, TextInput and Button -called NewItem- didn't get the focus, although the TextInput control did.

So, I simply added a call to this.SetFocus, to set the focus to the NewItem component, before setting the focus to the TextInput control.

The source code for the working version of NewItem is this (look for the //Solution comments to find the changes):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:HGroup xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" 
          xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" 
          xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo" >

    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[   

            protected function newItemHandler():void
            {
                import cart.ItemAddedEvent; 
                import flash.external.ExternalInterface; 

                var e : ItemAddedEvent = new ItemAddedEvent( "->" + textInputItemDescription.text );    
                textInputItemDescription.text = "";

                // *** Solution begins here                     
                this.setFocus();
                // *** Solution ends here

                textInputItemDescription.setFocus();
                textInputItemDescription.setSelection(0,0); 
                dispatchEvent( e ); // Bubble to parent = true
            }
        ]]>
    </fx:Script>

    <fx:Metadata>
        [Event(name="ItemAddedEvent",type="cart.ItemAddedEvent",bubbles=true)]
    </fx:Metadata>

    <mx:Label text="Item description:"/>
    <s:TextInput id="textInputItemDescription" enter="newItemHandler() "/>
    <s:Button click="newItemHandler()"  label="Add to cart"/>
</s:HGroup>