[flexcoders] Application.application.container?

[Merrill, Jason]

OK - not understanding something here.
Application.application.container?  I'm trying to figure out the base UI
class I can add sprite children to.  I have a class which draws objects,
and I want those objects to be drawn in my flex app.  So here is the
simplified version of the code below.  The thing I don't get is if I
leave in "_container = Application.application.container;" then the
constructor in my class does not run, but if I take it out, it runs. ?!?
Is Application.application.container the correct way to reference the
base UI object you can start adding Sprites to and then draw on with
Actionscript?
 
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml";
layout="absolute" applicationComplete="init()">
 <mx:Script>
  <![CDATA[
  
  import src.MyClass;
  import mx.core.UIComponent;
  
  private var _myClass:MyClass;
  private var _container:UIComponent; 
  
  private function init():void
  {
       _container = Application.application.container;
       _myClass = new MyClass(_container);
  }
 
  ]]>
 </mx:Script>
</mx:Application>
 
The MyClass.as file is:
 
package src
{

 import mx.core.UIComponent; 
 import mx.core.Application;
 
     public class MyClass     
     {
        private var _container:UIComponent;
        private var _circle:Sprite;
 
        public function MyClass(container:UIComponent)
        {
            trace("constructor runs")
             _container = container;
              drawGraphics();
        }
 
        private function drawCircle():void
        {
             _circle.graphics.drawCircle(100, 100, 100);
             _container.addChild(_circle);
        }
 
    }
 
}

Any ideas as to what is going on?  How do you handle getting to the base
UI class to draw objects with Actionscript?  Thank you.
 

Jason Merrill 
Bank of America 
L&LD GT&O 
eTools & Multimedia Research & Development