A large percentage of UI controls are to render some kinds of data. So they have setter for the values. The value can come as separate individuals or collectively a model.
Another aspect of data-control is that how to actually pass the value into internal parts of a control. One way is through binding. the other is using Flex's invalidation mechanism.
Binding: Pros: Easy to use; Cons: relatively poor in performance.
Invalidation:
Pros:
Cons: Need knowledge and skills on Flex framework.