The following example shows how you can set an error string on a Flex CheckBox control by setting the errorString property.
Full code after the jump.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2008/05/21/setting-an-error-string-on-a-checkbox-control-in-flex/ -->
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
layout="vertical"
verticalAlign="middle"
backgroundColor="white">
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
private function checkBox_change(evt:Event):void {
if (checkBox.selected) {
checkBox.errorString = "";
} else {
checkBox.errorString = "You must click here to continue";
}
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
<mx:Panel width="100%" height="100%">
<mx:TextArea id="textArea"
condenseWhite="true"
editable="false"
textAlign="justify"
width="100%"
height="100%">
<mx:htmlText>
<![CDATA[
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Quisque vitae massa. Curabitur sed dolor. Maecenas risus lacus, pretium eget, tempor vestibulum, mattis vitae, sem. Pellentesque ligula nisi, sagittis sit amet, tincidunt vitae, volutpat non, arcu. Mauris non arcu. In molestie nunc. Nam molestie dui lacinia massa commodo vehicula. Ut sed ante sit amet tellus aliquam rhoncus. Nunc orci urna, dictum eget, faucibus vitae, tempus vel, dui. Vestibulum quis arcu. Morbi felis justo, hendrerit quis, tempus ac, elementum sit amet, quam. Proin congue, leo eget aliquet rhoncus, tellus lectus varius ipsum, ac ultrices erat ligula non justo. Nunc porttitor diam vel dolor luctus semper. Ut non eros volutpat mi condimentum ornare. Praesent quis nunc et libero pulvinar pretium. Sed leo lorem, fringilla vel, sodales ac, suscipit ut, nunc. Vestibulum faucibus elit. Vivamus pharetra libero ut arcu. Curabitur sit amet tellus.</p>
<p>Fusce sagittis. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam velit sapien, porta at, cursus sed, pellentesque sit amet, libero. Duis aliquet purus eget mauris. Curabitur a ipsum. Nulla facilisi. Etiam porta, odio quis semper cursus, est ante volutpat massa, quis blandit orci dui ut nibh. Nulla sodales leo sit amet ligula. Suspendisse ultrices. Proin vitae felis.</p>
<p>Maecenas pellentesque, ligula blandit venenatis semper, magna quam laoreet urna, ut iaculis urna urna eu tortor. In interdum, dolor ut lobortis congue, massa velit egestas lectus, sed commodo sapien risus et ante. Proin id erat ac nibh luctus aliquet. Vestibulum sagittis turpis non est. Suspendisse ipsum ligula, suscipit vel, feugiat eu, commodo non, risus. Integer suscipit sapien quis lectus. Aliquam dictum, magna quis pellentesque aliquet, felis pede porttitor quam, at luctus risus odio eu ante. Phasellus a purus. Ut id dui nec diam congue auctor. Nullam nec pede. Vivamus ullamcorper iaculis urna.</p>
<p>Ut ultrices. Praesent convallis massa sit amet ipsum. Aenean varius posuere erat. Sed vulputate, purus eu consectetuer molestie, risus dui egestas augue, sed cursus sapien orci a turpis. Cras erat metus, ullamcorper quis, sollicitudin quis, suscipit vitae, ipsum. Suspendisse metus dolor, aliquet sit amet, vulputate sit amet, euismod ac, tortor. Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum ac sem at arcu blandit pretium. Sed faucibus, dolor sit amet viverra aliquet, mi arcu sollicitudin ante, at consequat risus mauris sit amet ante. Phasellus mi tellus, blandit ac, tempor a, pulvinar vel, ligula. Pellentesque molestie est sed nulla. Nam vel quam at magna pulvinar gravida. Curabitur sed neque eget enim tempor volutpat. Praesent varius. Nulla varius pulvinar nunc. Nulla interdum eros sed quam.</p>
<p>Aliquam erat volutpat. Aliquam vestibulum. Mauris fringilla, enim vitae viverra aliquet, nunc purus pretium massa, congue viverra lectus lacus in est. Sed posuere augue a tellus. Ut nunc leo, luctus ut, consequat scelerisque, ornare eu, metus. Duis et purus. Nunc hendrerit nunc. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Integer vel neque. Proin mi. Aliquam sollicitudin, nulla et tincidunt luctus, orci magna eleifend velit, placerat tempor ipsum sem vitae tortor. Etiam ac urna placerat erat pulvinar venenatis. Phasellus convallis diam in metus. Donec dui risus, sollicitudin vel, pulvinar sit amet, luctus sed, massa. Quisque ultrices lacus vel eros.</p>
]]>
</mx:htmlText>
</mx:TextArea>
<mx:ControlBar>
<mx:CheckBox id="checkBox"
label="I have read and agreed to your license"
errorString="You must click here to continue"
change="checkBox_change(event);"
width="100%" />
<mx:Button label="Next >>"
enabled="{checkBox.selected}" />
</mx:ControlBar>
</mx:Panel>
</mx:Application>
View source is enabled in the following example.
For some similar examples, see “Checking to see if a Flex CheckBox is selected before allowing a user to press a Button”.

Can we put in requests for posts? :) I’m having a heck of a time trying to change the itemRender for my List at runtime. Both itemRenderer’s work ifI change them manully then run them, but swapping them out at runtime is proving to be somewhat difficult. Any chance for a post showing how to do this?
Hey Peter is there anyway I could get some help from you on a Flex accordion situation I am having. Sorry to put it in this example but I couldn’t find any means of contacting you. I have been stuck on this problem since yesterday. If you can spare a moment to help reply here or send me an email and I will mention what I’m trying to do.
Thanks,
- Nick
And about this example thanks for this it will come in handy with this blog I have to make for a class project right now.
Nevermind I figured it out! Yes!! This whole time all I needed to do was set enabled=”{button.(something here)}” to enabled=”{button.enabled}”… I couldn’t figure out what I needed to put in (something here) until I just checked more into the list of functions for it.
Is there a way to make the errorString “buble” to apear instant and not only when you drag you mouse over the component?