[flexcoders] TextArea.text confusion

[Roman Protsiuk]

Hi, all.

I'm extending TextArea to make it show default text if it's empty. It will
be cleared (if needed) on focusIn.
The problem I've faced is that when I set text property in commitProperties
method that text isn't shown in the TextArea itself. :\

Following is my class:

package {

   import flash.display.DisplayObject;
   import flash.events.FocusEvent;

   import mx.controls.TextArea;

   public class ExtendedTextArea extends TextArea {

       public function get defaultText() : String {
           return _defaultText;
       }

       public function set defaultText(value : String) : void {
           _defaultText = value;
           _defaultTextChanged = true;
           invalidateProperties();
       }

       public function get defaultTextFunctional() : Boolean {
           return _defaultTextFunctional;
       }

       public function set defaultTextFunctional(value : Boolean) : void {
           _defaultTextFunctional = value;
       }

       override public function get text() : String {
           if (_showingDefaultText) {
               return "";
           } else {
               return super.text;
           }
       }

       override public function set text(value : String) : void {
           super.text = value;
           _textChanged = true;
           invalidateProperties();
       }

       override protected function commitProperties() : void {
           super.commitProperties();

           if ((_textChanged || _defaultTextChanged) && text == "") {
               setText(_defaultText, true);
           }

           _textChanged = false;
           _defaultTextChanged = false;
       }

       override protected function focusInHandler(event : FocusEvent) :
void {
           super.focusInHandler(event);
           if (contains(DisplayObject(event.target)) && _showingDefaultText
&& !_defaultTextFunctional) {
               setText("");
           }
       }

       override protected function focusOutHandler(event : FocusEvent) :
void {
           super.focusOutHandler(event);
           if (contains(DisplayObject(event.target)) &&
!_defaultTextFunctional && text == "") {
               setText(_defaultText, true);
           }
       }

       private function setText(value : String, isDefaultText : Boolean =
false) : void {
           text = value;
           _showingDefaultText = isDefaultText;
       }

       private var _defaultText : String = "";

       private var _defaultTextChanged : Boolean;

       private var _textChanged : Boolean;

       private var _showingDefaultText : Boolean;

       private var _defaultTextFunctional : Boolean;

   }

}

The class is far from complete.
Here's sample application:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; layout="vertical">
   <ExtendedTextArea
       width="220"
       height="80"
       defaultText="Album description goes here..."
       />
   <mx:Button label="button" />
</mx:Application>

Can anyone explain me this behavior and/or where is my mistake?

Thanks,
R.