flash_data question

[eluser]mattskelton[/eluser]
Hi,

Can the flash_data method be used when doing a simple query and displaying the result? Example, the user requests 'http://localhost/index.php/chair/481'. The item 481 doesn't exist. I want to set flash data in the controller to say,' sorry item doesn't exist' in the view page. However, the flash_data variable is empty until i refresh the view. Can flash_data be used in a single http request I.e. controller->model->controller->view?

Thanks,

Matt