[flexcoders] Changing a string to reference an ID of an Object

[Nate Pearson]

I am calling a webservice to get text for an item(RichTextEditor) that
I am adding dynamically.

If i set the ID of the rte to "item1" how do I reference that in my
webservice handler?  I have the string pass through so that the
handler knows that the ID should be item1.

I've tried:
RichTextEditor("item1").htmlText = "TEST"

and

RichTextEditor(this.getChildByName("item1")).htmlText = "TEST"

but neither work.  Any help is greatly appreciated.