[flexcoders] Sample works as 'Application' - fails when converted to a component

[justSteve]

I'm trying to adapt a very fine menu component (found at
http://www.useflashmore.com/flex-as3-scrollable-accordion-menu/scrollable-accordion-menu-custom-component/srcview/index.html).

I'm having problems figuring out how to wrap this up so I don't have
to have the menu sitting at the root Application tag level.

Initially tried wrapping it in Canvas and though i have no compiler
errors I have this warning:
CSS type selectors are not supported in components: 'Button'    

Though the project compiles with the declaration as:

<mx:Canvas xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml";
        width="100%" height="100%"
        xmlns:flexlib="http://code.google.com/p/flexlib/";
        xmlns:nav="com.useflexmore.controls.*"
        creationComplete="creationCompleteHandler()">
        
It will not correctly initialize - creationComplete never hits it's
handler. Since the menu extends UIComponent (public class
UFMButtonList extends UIComponent implements IFocusManagerComponent),
I tried wrapping it using that tag but that introduces a complier
error

1119: Access of possibly undefined property data through a reference
with static type
com.menus.view.components:MainMenu.     myProject/src/com/menus/view    
MainMenuMediator.as

which points to:
                        this.mainMenu.data = this.menuProxy.getMenuData();

where the component is instantiated by it's mediator via:
       public function MainMenuMediator( viewComponent:MainMenu )
        {
            // pass the viewComponent to the superclass where
            // it will be stored in the inherited viewComponent property
            super( NAME, viewComponent );
        }

Where to i look to figure out a fix?

many thankx
--steve...