Parse, iOS, includeKey query does not retrieve attribute of pointer object - ios

Question

I'm quite new to working with Parse and I'm building a todo list as part of a CRM. Each task in the table view shows the description, due date, and client name. The description and due date are in my Task class, as well as a pointer to the Deal class. Client is a string in the Deal class. I'm able to query the description and due date properly, but I am not able to retrieve the client attribute from within the Deal object by using includeKey. I followed the Parse documentation for includeKey.
The description and due date show up properly in the resulting table view, but not the client. The log shows client label: nil and the printed task details include <Deal: 0x7ff033d1ed40, objectId: HffKOiJrTq>, but nothing about the client attribute. How can I retrieve and assign the pointer object's attribute (client) to my label within the table view? My relevant code is below. Thank you in advance.
Edit: I've updated my code with func fetchClients() based on this SO answer, but I'm still not sure whether my function is complete or where to call it.
class TasksVC: UITableViewController {
var taskObjects:NSMutableArray! = NSMutableArray()
override func viewDidAppear(animated: Bool) {
super.viewDidAppear(animated)
println("\(PFUser.currentUser())")
self.fetchAllObjects()
self.fetchClients()
}
func fetchAllObjects() {
var query:PFQuery = PFQuery(className: "Task")
query.whereKey("username", equalTo: PFUser.currentUser()!)
query.orderByAscending("dueDate")
query.addAscendingOrder("desc")
query.includeKey("deal")
query.findObjectsInBackgroundWithBlock { (tasks: [AnyObject]!, error:NSError!) -> Void in
if (error == nil) {
var temp:NSArray = tasks! as NSArray
self.taskObjects = temp.mutableCopy() as NSMutableArray
println(tasks)
self.tableView.reloadData()
} else {
println(error?.userInfo)
}
}
}
func fetchClients() {
var task:PFObject = PFObject(className: "Task")
var deal:PFObject = task["deal"] as PFObject
deal.fetchIfNeededInBackgroundWithBlock {
(deal: PFObject!, error: NSError!) -> Void in
let client = deal["client"] as NSString
}
}
//MARK: - Tasks table view
override func numberOfSectionsInTableView(tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
return 1
}
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
return self.taskObjects.count
}
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = self.tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("TaskCell", forIndexPath: indexPath) as TaskCell
var dateFormatter:NSDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "M/dd/yy"
var task:PFObject = self.taskObjects.objectAtIndex(indexPath.row) as PFObject
cell.desc_Lbl?.text = task["desc"] as? String
cell.date_Lbl.text = dateFormatter.stringFromDate(task["dueDate"] as NSDate)
cell.client_Lbl?.text = task["client"] as? String
var clientLabel = cell.client_Lbl?.text
println("client label: \(clientLabel)")
return cell
}
}

Answer 1

If the deal column is a pointer then includeKey("deal") will get that object and populate it's properties for you. There is no need to perform a fetch of any type on top of that.
You really should be using Optionals properly though:
if let deal = task["deal"] as? PFObject {
// deal column has data
if let client = deal["client"] as? String {
// client has data
cell.client_Lbl?.text = client
}
}
Alternatively you can replace the last if let with a line like this, which handles empty values and uses a default:
cell.client_Lbl?.text = (deal["client"] as? String) ?? ""
In your posted cellForRowAtIndexPath code you are trying to read client from the task instead of from the deal: task["client"] as? String.