Swift Custom UITableViewCell Programmatically works and shows in cell but Storyboard IBOutlet is nil and does not show in cell - ios

Question

In my custom cell swift file CustomTableView.swift, I can create programmatically the labels for my TableView but when I use IBOutlet in Storyboard the label becomes always nil
I am very sure that my cell is not nil
import UIKit
class CustomTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
#IBOutlet weak var lblPostDate: UILabel!
var message: UILabel = UILabel()
override init(style: UITableViewCellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
self.message.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 40);
self.message.backgroundColor = UIColor.brownColor()
self.message.text = "bla bla bla bla bla"
self.addSubview(self.message)
}
required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
}
override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
// Initialization code
}
override func setSelected(selected: Bool, animated: Bool) {
super.setSelected(selected, animated: animated)
// Configure the view for the selected state
}
func setCell(postDate: String)
{
self.lblPostDate?.text = postDate
}
}
In the above code, the message can be seen in the cells but lblPostDate which is the IBOutlet can not be seen
I am sure about the delegate and datasource and custom cell identifier what so ever but it seems that the IBOutlets don't get initialized correctly. I can see that lblPostDate becomes nil when I debug
Is this a bug of XCode 6?
Here is how I call from my Controller
import UIKit
class HomeViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate {
var items = ["one","two","three","four"]
let kCellIdentifier: String = "CustomCell"
#IBOutlet weak var mTableView: UITableView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
self.mTableView.registerClass(CustomTableViewCell.classForCoder(), forCellReuseIdentifier:kCellIdentifier)
//self.mTableView.registerClass(CustomTableViewCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: kCellIdentifier)
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
var cell:CustomTableViewCell! = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier(kCellIdentifier, forIndexPath: indexPath) as? CustomTableViewCell
if (cell == nil) {
self.mTableView.registerClass(CustomTableViewCell.classForCoder(), forCellReuseIdentifier: kCellIdentifier)
cell = CustomTableViewCell(style: UITableViewCellStyle.Default, reuseIdentifier: kCellIdentifier)
}
if var label = cell.lblPostDate{
label.text = items[indexPath.row]
}
else{
cell.setCell(items[indexPath.row])
}
return cell
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
return items.count
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, heightForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGFloat {
return 44
}
}

Answer 1

You have to link the lblPostDate with one label in your cell xib file.

Answer 2

That is insane, I deleted the register class code and it worked, I can't believe it
//self.mTableView.registerClass(CustomTableViewCell.classForCoder(), forCellReuseIdentifier:kCellIdentifier)
After commenting out the registerClass in my Controller, it doesn't call anymore the init function but creates the lblPostDate correctly indeed
override init(style: UITableViewCellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
self.message.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 40);
self.message.backgroundColor = UIColor.brownColor()
self.message.text = "bla bla bla bla bla"
self.addSubview(self.message)
}
So I don't need anymore to create hard-code input objects.
It is interesting that all the tutorials, everywhere they suggest to register the class. Anyway,it worked!