There is this bug I found in flash player, I described earlier today in this thread:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2227048/fix-needed-for-bug-in-textfield-text
I was able to confirm via that thread that it is in fact an actual bug in flash player, and now I'm just trying to discover some work around, because from my vantage point, its basically unacceptable. (and btw I've confirmed its present on Flex 2,3, and 4.)
Just to review here it is:
Use Adobe's own code example from the end of the mx:Text reference page. Replace their htmlText from that example with a large block of htmlText containing anchor tags. Compile and run. Now make the browser window small and click at random anywhere on the htmlText (though not on a hyperlink). Then, scroll the text using the thumb of the scrollbar. With the mouse button still depressed (not having ended the scroll) move the mouse pointer over any hyperlink in the htmlText and then release the mouse button. At that point, Flash Player starts erroneously highlighted and selecting text as if the shift key is depressed (or something). Also the hand cursor for links is no longer displayed.
Of course, you can end this bizarre behavior by clicking somewhere. But I'm trying to figure out how to do that in code without success. A DispatchEvent of a click event or mouseDown,mouseUp events do not simulate an actual mouse click.
But anyway, I'm just searching for some method, some event, or anything I could invoke when the thumb scroll ends that would reset Flash Player out of this bizarre mode its in. I don't want to change anything else about the valid state of the Text (e.g. if there is some actual legitimate current selection - I don't want to wipe that out for example.)
But anyway I did find out that the end of a thumb scroll is signalled by ScrollEventDetail.THUMB_POSITION, so basically I just need to invoke something in the event handler for that to negate this bizarre mode that Flash Player is in (where its acting like the shift key is depressed or something.)
I know this has gotten kind of verbose, but frankly I can't believe how anyone or Adobe would find this bug acceptable, or how in the world its been around this long with no one even caring about it (I confirmed earlier today its even in the Flex 4 SDK which they're fixing to release.)
I did report this in their bug tracking system earlier today. And also brought it up in the Flex SDK open source forum. But the adobe employee moderating there said it was the wrong forum to bring it up and didn't have any interest in addressing it.