Why is my custom UITableCell not displaying the text? - ios

Question

So I tried subclassing UITableViewCell to make a message cell, I've been testing it and I can't seem to get it to show anything. It's not the data source because it was working fine with I wasn't trying to use a custom cell. I'm not sure why nothing is appearing in the cells.
-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{
MessageCell * cell = (MessageCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"cell"];
if(cell == nil){
cell = [[MessageCell alloc]initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"cell"];
}
cell.messageContent.text = self.messages[indexPath.row][#"content"];
return (UITableViewCell*) cell;
}
this is the init method i have in the subclass of UITableViewCell
-(instancetype)initWithStyle:(UITableViewCellStyle)style reuseIdentifier:(NSString *)reuseIdentifier{
self = [super initWithStyle:style reuseIdentifier:reuseIdentifier];
if(self){
//I played with the CGRect numbers but that's not it.
messageContent = [[UILabel alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(3,35, 200,30)];
messageContent.textColor = [UIColor redColor];
messageContent.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
messageContent.highlightedTextColor = [UIColor clearColor];
messageContent.adjustsFontSizeToFitWidth = YES;
[self.contentView addSubview:messageContent];
}
return self
}

Answer 1

1st check using below line :
cell.messageContent.text = #"asdfasdf";
If it's work properly than something wrong in
self.messages[indexPath.row][#"content"]
line . . .

Answer 2

If you are using storyboard, the method -(instancetype)initWithStyle:(UITableViewCellStyle)style reuseIdentifier:(NSString *)reuseIdentifier; most definitely wont get called.
Add this method to MessageCell.h:
- (void)setupCellWithText:(NSString *)text
Add the implementation to MessageCell.m:
- (void)setupCellWithText:(NSString *)text{
messageContent = [[UILabel alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(3,35, 200,30)];
messageContent.textColor = [UIColor redColor];
messageContent.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
messageContent.highlightedTextColor = [UIColor clearColor];
messageContent.adjustsFontSizeToFitWidth = YES;
[self.contentView addSubview:messageContent];
messageContent.text = text;
}
Now modify your delegate method:
-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{
MessageCell * cell = (MessageCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"cell"];
if(cell == nil){
cell = [[MessageCell alloc]initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"cell"];
}
[cell setupWithText:[self.messages[indexPath.row][#"content"]]];
return (UITableViewCell*) cell;
}
Hope this helps. Sorry for typos.

Answer 3

When you create a custom UITableViewCell your tableView needs to know about it. Here's how. This goes in the UITableViewController's viewDidLoad:
[self.tableView registerClass:[MessageCell class] forCellWithReuseIdentifier:#"cell"];
Now your tableViews knows about your class and no more casting is necessary.
Bonus tip! You don't need this:
if(cell == nil){
cell = [[MessageCell alloc]initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"cell"];
}
dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier already does that for you.
Here's what the whole thing would look like.
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Register custom cell for table view
[self.tableView registerClass:[MessageCell class] forCellWithReuseIdentifier:#"cell"];
}
-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{
MessageCell * cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"cell"];
cell.messageContent.text = self.messages[indexPath.row][#"content"];
return cell;
}
** I just wrote this in the browser so forgive my errors

Answer 4

Check set your UITableViewDelegate and UITableViewDataSource.
On Xib: See image below.
Or in ViewDidLoad:
self.mTableView.delegate = self;
self.mTableView.dataSource = self;
Hope this helps!