             }
             else
             {
-                throw new Error("invalid content");
+                textFlow = createTextFlowFromMarkup(_content.toString());
             }
             textInvalid = true;
             dispatchEvent(new Event("textInvalid"));

    }

    //----------------------------------
    //  text
    //----------------------------------


            textFlow.flowComposer = flowComposer;
            
            // Give it an EditManager to make it editable.
            var editManager:TextViewEditManager = new TextViewEditManager();
            // TODO! Temporary workaround because selectionColor
            // isn't getting set for FxApplications.
            var selectionColor:* = getStyle("selectionColor");
            if (selectionColor === undefined)
                selectionColor = 0xB5D5FF;
            var unfocusedAlpha:Number =
                selectionVisibility != TextSelectionVisibility.WHEN_FOCUSED ? 
                1.0 : 0.0;
            var inactiveAlpha:Number =
                selectionVisibility == TextSelectionVisibility.ALWAYS ?
                1.0 : 0.0;
            editManager.focusSelectionFormat = new SelectionFormat(
                selectionColor, 1.0, BlendMode.NORMAL);
            editManager.noFocusSelectionFormat = new SelectionFormat(
                getStyle("unfocusedSelectionColor"), unfocusedAlpha,
                BlendMode.NORMAL);
            editManager.inactiveSelectionFormat = new SelectionFormat(
                getStyle("inactiveSelectionColor"), inactiveAlpha,
                BlendMode.NORMAL);
            textFlow.interactionManager = editManager;

            // Listen to events from the TextFlow and its EditManager.
            addListeners(textFlow);
