I know a thread like this has come up several times, but I still can't seem to find the answer after diving several pages into Google. Basically, I have a list component in my library and I have manually edited the CellRenderer_* clips in the library to appeal to my design. However, what I am trying to find out is if it is still possible in AS3 to do two things: Alternating Row Colors (I can live without this) and different color TextFormats for each item in the List component.

Currently, I have a way to "setStyle" a List component by overriding the ListData member of the component:

Code:
package com.fwd.util {
    import fl.controls.listClasses.CellRenderer;
    import fl.controls.listClasses.ICellRenderer;
	import flash.text.TextFormat;
	import fl.controls.List;

    public class ListController extends CellRenderer implements ICellRenderer {

        public function ListController():void {
            super();
        }

        public static function getStyleDefinition():Object {
            return CellRenderer.getStyleDefinition();
        }

        override protected function drawBackground():void {
			switch (_listData.row) {
				case 0:
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0xFFCC99));
					break;
				case 1:
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0xFFCC99));				
					break;
				case 2:
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0x00CC33));				
					break;
				case 3:
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0x0066FF));				
					break;
				case "3":
				case "4":
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0x333333));
					break;
				case "5":
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0xFFFFFF));
					break;		
				case "6":
				case "7":
					setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Verdana", 12, 0xCC9900));																		 
			}
            super.drawBackground();
        }
    }
}
Of course, the above code works when I add it to my List component:

Code:
				var itemList:List = new List();
					itemList.width = 200;
					itemList.x = 10;
					itemList.y = itemLabel.y + 30;
					itemList.setStyle("cellRenderer", ListController);
					newMuleTab.addChild(itemList);
However, the problem is this. The ListController class can't access the property of the List.addItem() object that I use to decide what TextFormat to use for the CellRenderer (The above is an example so it compiles. The object member I plan on using is "type" i.e. _listData.type throws an error). Has anyone done a workaround for this type of thing before? The application I'm writing really hinges on having different color text in the List component.