UITableViewCell not modifying it's properties - ios

Question

I have a subclass of UITableViewCell with a xib that I want to use as my table view cell. I need to modify the cell's properties on a cell by cell basis. Here is my code. The NSLog reveals that the properties are changed correctly, but when I run the app, the usernameLabel stays the same as the placeholder in the xib file. I'm grateful for any help and happy holidays.
-(UITableViewCell *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath: (NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *simpleTableIdentifier = #"SimpleTableItem";
// ActivityCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:simpleTableIdentifier];
LiveCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:simpleTableIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
// Load the top-level objects from the custom cell XIB.
NSArray *topLevelObjects = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"LiveCell" owner:self options:nil];
// Grab a pointer to the first object (presumably the custom cell, as that's all the XIB should contain).
cell = [topLevelObjects objectAtIndex:0];
}
if (dataLoaded == YES) {
cell.usernameLabel = [[UILabel alloc] init];
NSLog(#"Data Cell Loaded");
PFObject *liveObject = [tableData objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
cell.usernameLabel.text= liveObject[#"Name"];
NSLog(#"Name Label: %#", cell.usernameLabel.text);
return cell;
}
else {
return cell;
}
}

Answer 1

Consider this code:
cell.usernameLabel = [[UILabel alloc] init];
NSLog(#"Data Cell Loaded");
PFObject *liveObject = [tableData objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
cell.usernameLabel.text= liveObject[#"Name"];
NSLog(#"Name Label: %#", cell.usernameLabel.text);
return cell;
You made a label and set its text, but so what? You never put it into the interface of the cell. So the label comes into existence, its text is set, and it then vanishes in a puff of smoke.
If the cell already has a usernameLabel in its interface, then it is wrong to replace it with this new one that is not in the interface. If it doesn't already have a usernameLabel, then you need to put this one in the interface. Either way, this code is silly.