Embed UITableView in UITableViewCell in iOS 9, Xcode 7 and Storyboards - ios

Question

I have two UITableViews using Storyboards in Xcode 7. I've set the delegate and dataSource using the Connections Inspector for both table views.
Let the first table view be the main table view and let the table views within each cell of the main table view be the detail table views with cell identifiers named appropriately and respectively.
When [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"MainCell" forIndexPath:indexPath] executes, it immediately calls its dataSource method -cellForRowAtIndexPath: for DetailCell preventing me from setting a custom instance variable in time to add the appropriate data to each cell.
The following is a simplified example marked using comments.
MainTableViewController:
#implementation MainTableViewController
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
// Keep in mind the following two (2) lines are set using the Connections Inspector
//cell.detailTableView.dataSource = cell;
//cell.detailTableView.delegate = cell;
// Stepping over the following line will jump to the
// other `-cellForRowAtIndexPath:` (below) used to set
// the detail info.
cell = (MainTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"MainCell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
CustomObj *obj = self.mainData[indexPath.row];
cell.nameLabel.text = obj.name;
cell.additionalInfo = obj.additionalInfo; // This line is not set before instantiation begins for the detail table view...
return cell;
}
...
#end
DetailTableViewCell (contains a UITableView and implements appropriate protocols):
#interface DetailTableViewCell : UITableViewCell <UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate>
#property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UILabel *nameLabel;
#property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UITableView *detailTableView;
#property (nonatomic, strong) CustomObj *additionalInfo;
#end
#implementation DetailTableViewCell
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
cell = (DetailTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"DetailCell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
// Instantiate detail ...
cell.detailLabel.text = self.additionalInfo.text;
// Problem!
// self.additionalInfo == nil thus we cannot set a value to the label.
return cell;
}
...
#end
The problem is when the detail -cellForRowAtIndexPath: method is called, I haven't had a chance to set a value for its dataSource, in this case, additionalInfo.

Answer 1

There are many possible ways to fix your problem, but first I would say that, your design seems not a good one, A UItableViewCell has another UITableView, and another UItableViewCell inside this UITableView? Why you do this? Just use one UITableView and put all of your views into one UItableViewCell as subViews should be enough.
Now get to your problem:
I would suggest not to use IBOutlet for setting up your delegate and dataSource, use code. This can give you a chance to delay setting the dataSource and delgate when you are ready. Once you think it's the proper time, just call [cell.detailTableView reloadData] will trigger your DetailTableViewCell to invoke cellForRowAtIndexPath
#implementation MainTableViewController
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
// Keep in mind the following two (2) lines are set using the Connections Inspector
//cell.detailTableView.dataSource = cell;
//cell.detailTableView.delegate = cell;
// Stepping over the following line will jump to the
// other `-cellForRowAtIndexPath:` (below) used to set
// the detail info.
cell = (MainTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"MainCell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
CustomObj *obj = self.mainData[indexPath.row];
cell.nameLabel.text = obj.name;
cell.additionalInfo = obj.additionalInfo; // This line is not set before instantiation begins for the detail table view...
// setup dataSource and delegate now
cell.detailTableView.dataSource = cell;
cell.detailTableView.delegate = cell;
// call reloadData whenever you think is proper
[cell.detailTableView reloadData];
return cell;
}

Answer 2

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
UITableViewCell* cell = nil;
//Check this call is for which table view.
if(tableView == detailTableView) {
cell = (MainTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"MainCell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
// Do any additional setup you want with MainCell
} else {
cell = (DetailTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"DetailCell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
// Do any additional setup you want with DetailCell
}
return cell;
}