How can I get component from tree and set the bound values

[Travis Reeder]

I am working on some ajax form components and I am trying to do the following:

1.  Request with the componentId, viewId, value.
2.  Get that particular component from the specified viewId
3.  Get the bound value of the component and set it's value to "value".

But I cannot seem to get the component, when I try this:

FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
        ViewHandler viewHandler = context.getApplication().getViewHandler();
        UIViewRoot viewRoot = viewHandler.restoreView(context, viewId);
        if(viewRoot == null){
            viewRoot = viewHandler.createView(context, viewId);
        }


viewRoot always seems to be null on restoreView and on createView, it has no children.

Any ideas?  Am I going about this the wrong way??

Travis