Can a component use a main app's dataservice?

[EvolvedDSM]

I have several components that require the same dataservice and arraycollection
to populate a control on each component.
Here's how my dataservice and arrayCollection are declared and populated
private var ds:DataService;
private var items:ArrayCollection;
private var item:ItemTable;

items = new ArrayCollection;
ds = new DataService("someDS");
ds.fill(items);
item = new ItemTable;

I'd like to have this all in my main application, and then let my components
use it. How can I call this dataservice and arraycollection from my main app
to my components?

[Greg Lafrance]

I would think that using parentDocument.items, etc. or Application.aplication.items you could do this, but I wonder if the fact that they are private may prevent access. They might need to be public.

[EvolvedDSM]

Thanks Greg. Turning the variables public and using parentDocument did the trick!

[Greg Lafrance]

I would think that as long as the array collection has an id, such as myAC, then it would be compName.myAC.refresh().