In mx:Datagrid, you can easily declare that a column uses the enter key, so you can enter multiline text into it.
Basically, exactly this: http://blog.flexexamples.com/2007/09/30/using-a-flex-textarea-control-as-a-drop-in-item-editor/ (see how you can hit enter in the grid cell, and enter multiline text). How does one do this in Spark? I've diagnosed the editor ending when it receives the keyboard ENTER event into DatagridEditor::editor_keydownHandler. I can't just cancel / stop propagation of the event / modify the event, otherwise the textarea doesn't add the CR. I can't override in some custom version DataGridEditor because editor_keyDownHandler is declared private. The DataGridEditor anyway is instantiated in an mx_internal function in DataGrid. It seems like this behaviour is burnt in and can't easily be reversed... ?