Pulling out my hair on this one. I've made so many apps with table views and have been looking at my past apps, but for some reason this table view is too stubborn to show anything...
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
self.tableView.delegate = self;
self.tableView.datasource = self;
[_myArray addObject:#"Hi"];
[_myArray addObject:#"Hello"];
[_myArray addObject:#"Bye"];
// Uncomment the following line to preserve selection between presentations.
// self.clearsSelectionOnViewWillAppear = NO;
// Uncomment the following line to display an Edit button in the navigation bar for this view controller.
// self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem;
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#pragma mark - Table view data source
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
return 1;
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection: (NSInteger)section
{
return [_myArray count];
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
NSString *currentItem = [_myArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
cell.textLabel.text = #"Hi";
// Configure the cell...
return cell;
}
So basically nothing shows up for me. The table view is blank as always even though i set the delegate, and got the table view delegate and data source in the .h file.
Initialize your array. _myArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
The way to debug this is straight-forward.
Set a breakpoint in numberOfSectionsInTableView. See if the breakpoint is hit.
Make sure that the value returned from numberOfSectionsInTableView is correct.
Set a breakpoint in numberOfRowsInSection. Make sure the breakpoint is hit.
Make sure that the value returned from numberOfRowsInSection is correct.
Set a breakpoint in cellForRowAtIndexPath. Make sure that the breakpoint is hit.
Step through the logic in cellForRowAtIndexPath and make sure it's all correct.
Very likely you will discover that numberOfRowsInSection is returning the wrong value.
Is this a UIViewController with a tableView or a UITableViewController?
Here are the main steps you need to check:
If it is a UITableViewController, skip the next item.
Make sure the tableView is a IBOutlet if you're not working with a UITableViewController directly, and connect your tableview to your controller on Interface Builder. Also make sure your controller implements protocols
On Interface Builder, connect your tableview to the controller, making the controller the datasource and the delegate
Try calling [tableView reloadData] after you define your data array, on viewDidLoad
cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
That line needs to be deleted, but shouldn't prevent the table from displaying stuff. It simply defeats the purpose of the reuse queue.
The only possibility that remains is that the cell identifier hasn't been set in storyboard, or it isn't #"Cell". Note identifiers are case sensitive.
Related
This one is driving me crazy - I don't know what am I missing.
here is my ViewController.
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
[self.tableView registerClass:[CurrentMatchCell class] forCellReuseIdentifier:#"CurrentMatchCell"];
self.tableView.delegate = self;
self.tableView.dataSource = self;
}
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark Table View Data Source Methods
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
NSLog(#"1");
return 1;
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
NSLog(#"2");
return 1;
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
NSLog(#"3");
CurrentMatchCell *cell = (CurrentMatchCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"CurrentMatchCell"];
if (cell == nil) {
NSLog(#"XXX");
}
[cell.matchDescription setText: #"Home Team vs Away Team"];
return cell;
}
Here is screenshots from the app.
delegate and datasource are set programmatically.
cell attributes :
And the .h file :
#interface CurrentMatchesViewController : UIViewController <NSFetchedResultsControllerDelegate,UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource>
#property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet UITableView *tableView;
So, I can see logs 1,2,3 being printed out, cell is not nill but I do not see my content. Why is that?
I only see a number of empty white cells (even if I return 0 or whatever it does show the same every time).
Thanks
If you create your table view and your cell prototypes in a storyboard, the storyboard loader takes care of registering the cell prototypes that you defined in the storyboard. So:
You don't need to call registerClass:forCellReuseIdentifier: again in the code. This will actually mess up your storyboard settings.
You can also use dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:forIndexPath: instead of dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:. That method always returns a cell, so you don't have to have a nil check.
Edit: If that doesn't do the trick, try calling [self.tableView reloadData] after setting the delegate / data source, or set the delegate and data source in the storyboard.
It is because you're not loading your custom nib. Try this. (Make sure CurrentMatchCell is the name of your xib file).
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
UINib *nib = [UINib nibWithNibName:#"CurrentMatchCell" bundle:nil];
[self.tableView registerNib:nib forCellReuseIdentifier:#"CurrentMatchCell"];
self.tableView.delegate = self;
self.tableView.dataSource = self;
}
Edit: based on your comment: Don't register the custom cell class when using a storyboard.... it does that for you and it also sets the delegate. So try removing those lines from the viewdidload.... and second I would try actually making CurrentMatchesViewController a subclass of UITableViewController
UITableViewCells get emptied on scroll (Objective-C)
I am having a problem with UITableViewCells getting emptied as soon I a start to scroll within the table view.
I already had a look at Cells become empty after scrolling. (Xcode) - however the problem still persists.
1) I have a popover view controller, which presents a way to log into some administration. Upon successful login (which hasn’t been implemented yet, the LOGIN button simply takes one straight to a test tableView - which should be fed from some external database later on).
2) Upon successful login, the login view inside the popover gets removed and a custom UITableViewController comes into play with its own XIB.
3) This UITableViewController uses a custom UITableViewCell - since prototype cells are not possible within this configuration.
It all works to the point where I scroll the table - and all the cells get emptied for some reason.
Here is the code run down (I leave out the obvious, eg properties and table section, etc setups):
1) customPopUpViewController(XIB ,.h, .m):
- (IBAction)loginButtonPressed:(UIButton *)sender {
UITableViewController *libraryTableViewController = [[LibraryAdminTableViewController alloc]initWithNibName:#"LibraryAdminTableViewController" bundle:nil];
libraryTableViewController.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 179, libraryTableViewController.view.frame.size.width, libraryTableViewController.view.frame.size.height);
[self.view addSubview:libraryTableViewController.view];
}
2) LibraryAdminTableViewController (XIB ,.h, .m):
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.LibraryAdminTable.delegate = self;
self.LibraryAdminTable.dataSource = self;
self.tblContentList = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
self.tblContentList = [NSMutableArray arrayWithObjects:#"Sync Pack 1",#"Sync Pack 2",#"Sync Pack 3", nil];
[self.LibraryAdminTable registerNib:[UINib nibWithNibName:#"LibraryAdminTableViewCell" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]] forCellReuseIdentifier:#"LibraryAdminCell"];
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
LibraryAdminTableViewCell *cell = [self.LibraryAdminTable dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"LibraryAdminCell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
NSString* trackList = [self.tblContentList objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
cell.cellLabel.text = trackList;
return cell;
}
3) LibraryAdminTableViewCell (XIB ,.h, .m) - I gave the Identifier in the Attributes Inspector “LibraryAdminCell”:
#property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UILabel *cellLabel;
What am I missing?
It is solved. According to this thread I had to get a strong reference to the custom UITableViewController via a property in the popup controller since the ViewController (being the DataSource for the tableView) would not be retained in memory.
This is happening because you are not creating a new cell, when tableview will try to dequeue a cell, and it does not get the cell, then it should create the cell to use but you are not creating any cell, so it is returning nil.Try the code below
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
LibraryAdminTableViewCell *cell = (LibraryAdminTableViewCell*)[self.LibraryAdminTable dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"LibraryAdminCell"
forIndexPath:indexPath];
if (cell == nil)
{
cell = [[LibraryAdminTableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault
reuseIdentifier:#"LibraryAdminCell"];
cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone;
}
NSString* trackList = [self.tblContentList objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
cell.cellLabel.text = trackList;
return cell;
}
PRESENTATION
Mine is a simple project: It consists of a NavigationController, ViewController, and a “Search Bar and Search Display Controller”
My .h file is
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface ViewController : UIViewController <UISearchDisplayDelegate, UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate>
#end
and my .m file is
#import "ViewController.h"
#interface ViewController ()
#property(nonatomic,strong)NSMutableArray *data;
#end
#implementation ViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
self.searchDisplayController.displaysSearchBarInNavigationBar = YES;
self.data=[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#pragma mark - data source
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)aTableView {
// Return the number of sections.
return 1;
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)aTableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
// Return the number of rows in the section.
return [_data count];
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"CellIdentifier";
// Dequeue or create a cell of the appropriate type.
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] ;
cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryNone;
}
// Configure the cell.
cell.textLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"Row %d", indexPath.row];
cell.textLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"Row %d: %#", indexPath.row, [_data objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]];
return cell;
}
#pragma mark - delegate
- (BOOL)searchDisplayController:(UISearchDisplayController *)controller shouldReloadTableForSearchString:(NSString *)searchString
{
[NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:2 target:self selector:#selector(mockSearch:) userInfo:searchString repeats:NO];
return NO;
}
- (void)mockSearch:(NSTimer*)timer
{
[_data removeAllObjects];
int count = 1 + random() % 20;
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
[_data addObject:timer.userInfo];
}
[self.searchDisplayController.searchResultsTableView reloadData];
}
#end
And that’s the entire program. What does it do? User makes a search and the data is displayed in a TableView (similar to a google search).
PROBLEM
I need to use a CustomTableViewCell for my table. And I need to build the TableViewCell from the storyboard (easy to visualize). I am stuck with the storyboard part. How do I place a TableViewCell on the storyboard without a TableView to place it in? I had an idea, I tried it, but it didn’t work. Here is what I did. I placed a “never-to-be-used” TableViewController in the storyboard whose sole purpose is to hold my CustomTableViewCell. Then in code I subclass TableViewCell and use IBOutlet to link the sub-views of the storyboard TableViewCell to my CustomTableViewCell . And then I used my cell as CustomTableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier forIndexPath:indexPath];. This didn’t work. The tableView remained blank. And my guess for the failure is that CustomTableViewCell does not belong to the tableView being dequeued from.
I need the UISearchBar to always stay inside the NavigationBar. But so far self.searchDisplayController.displaysSearchBarInNavigationBar = YES; is not doing it. When I first start the app the searchBar is inside the NavigationBar. But as soon as I click on it, it smacks itself right in the middle of my scene/screen and never leaves.
I need to add a Header to my TableView. Which I thought of doing the same way as the CustomTableViewCell, but with a UIView parent class. But again, the CustomTableViewCell portion failed.
PLEA
Thank you for any help you can provide me.
UPDATE
All I am trying to do is allow my users to launch a server side search and view the results in a tableView. This is such a basic thing, I image many people here have done this a number of times. Being new to iOS, I am stuck. But at this point, I have posted my entire project (anyone can reconstruct it), and I have explained in details all the ways I tried to solve the problem. So if someone has a sample project they don’t mind sharing, it would help very much. Or if you know of a git project please put a link to it. Thanks.
If you want to make a stand-alone view (not in a view controller) in IB, then you should do it in a xib file, not a storyboard. You can have as many storyboard and xib files in an app as you want; they can be mixed freely. To make a new cell in a xib file, just go to New File --> User Interface --> Empty then drag in a UITableViewCell. Add any subviews you want, and in your table view controller (or whatever class is your table view data source), register the xib file with, registerNib:forIdentifier: (usually, you do this in viewDidLoad).
I have created .h and .m files for UITableView called mainTableViewgm.h and mainTableViewgm.m resp. and I am calling -initWithFrame: method from my main view controller to this mainTableViewgm.m implementation file
[[mainTableViewgm alloc]initWithFrame:tableViewOne.frame]
Note that this tableview is in my main view controller. But I have created separate files for the tableView and have also set the custom class to mainTableViewgm in storyboard.
the -initWithFrame: methods appears as follows
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
//NSLog(#"kource data");
self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
if (self)
{
[self setDelegate:self];
[self setDataSource:self];
[self tableView:self cellForRowAtIndexPath:0];
[self tableView:self numberOfRowsInSection:1];
// Initialization code
}
return self;
}
-(NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
NSLog(#"kource data");
return 1;
}
-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
NSLog(#"kource data2");
UITableViewCell*cellOne =[[UITableViewCell alloc]init];
cellOne.detailTextLabel.text=#"text did appear";
return cellOne;
}
the -initWithFrame: is being called fine along with the 'if (self)' block in this method. But the problem is numberOfRowsInSection: and cellForRowAtIndexPath: are not being automatically called here . kource data/kource data2 never appear in log. What do I do to load the table? Are the delegate/datasource being set incorrectly?
I must mention that I have also set the UITableViewDelegate and UITableviewDataSource protocols:
#interface mainTableViewgm : UITableView <UITableViewDelegate,UITableViewDataSource>
#end
Help will be much appreciated. Thank you.
Your tableview is not loaded when the controller is initializing, so you cannot do that in the init methods. You have to move your code to the viewDidLoad method.
Also you are not setting the delegate and datasource on the tableview object (probably a type, you are setting them on the view controller). It should look like this:
- (void)viewDidLoad:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewDidLoad:animated];
[self.tableView setDelegate:self];
[self.tableView setDataSource:self]; // <- This will trigger the tableview to (re)load it's data
}
Next thing is to implement the UITableViewDataSource methods correctly. UITableViewCell *cellOne =[[UITableViewCell alloc] init]; is not returning a valid cell object. You should use at least initWithStyle:. And take a look how to use dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:forIndexPath:. A typical implementation would look like this:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
// Reuse/create cell
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
}
// Update cell contents
cell.textLabel.text = #"Your text here";
cell.detailTextLabel.text=#"text did appear";
return cell;
}
I can't believe I've been doing XCode programming for two years, and still hit this issue.
I had the same problem with XCode 6.1 - I was setting my UITableView's delegate & dataSource in the viewWillAppear function, but none of the delegate functions were kicking in.
However, if I right-clicked on the UITableView on the Storyboard, the circles for delegate and dataSource were empty.
The solution, then, is to hold down the CTRL key, and drag from each of these circles up to the name of your UIView which contains your UITableView:
After doing this, my UITableView happily populated itself.
(So, we're upto v6.1 of XCode now are we ? Do you think Apple ever going to make this thing, you know, friendly...? I would quite like to add a Bookmark in my code... that'd be a nice feature.)
I've created a subclass of UITableViewCell for an iPad app. I need to dynamically generate text fields, take input from the user, and then store that information in an array. I thought of asking the UITableViewCell for the UITextField.text object, which would hold whatever the user wrote before my View Controller's segue (I'm saving the NSString objects upon the segue being called). So I've got an array of UITableViewCells which I ask for the UITextField.text object. But for some reason while my UITableViewCell subclass is being created, my UITextField is not. I can call UITableViewSubclass and it's initialized, but UITableViewSubclass.UITextField is nil.
Here's my UITableViewCell Subclass header (Yes, the UITextField is connected in the storyboard):
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface ConditionCell : UITableViewCell
#property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UITextField *condition;
#end
Here's my implementation file:
#import "ConditionCell.h"
#implementation ConditionCell
#synthesize condition;
- (id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewCellStyle)style reuseIdentifier:(NSString *)reuseIdentifier
{
self = [super initWithStyle:style reuseIdentifier:reuseIdentifier];
if (self) {
// Initialization code
self.condition = (UITextField *)[self viewWithTag:10];
}
return self;
}
- (void)setSelected:(BOOL)selected animated:(BOOL)animated
{
[super setSelected:selected animated:animated];
// Configure the view for the selected state
}
#end
This here is the Table View Controller handling the table that contains the cells:
.h file:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "ConditionCell.h"
#interface ConditionsTableViewController : UITableViewController
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *conditionCellArray;
- (void)addNewConditionCell;
#end
.m file:
#import "ConditionsTableViewController.h"
#interface ConditionsTableViewController ()
#end
#implementation ConditionsTableViewController
#synthesize conditionCellArray = _conditionCellArray;
- (NSMutableArray *)conditionCellArray
{
if (_conditionCellArray == nil) {
// Create the array object
_conditionCellArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
return _conditionCellArray;
}
- (void)addNewConditionCell
{
ConditionCell *condCell = [[ConditionCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"conditionCell"];
[self.conditionCellArray addObject:condCell];
[self.tableView beginUpdates];
NSIndexPath *indexPath = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:self.conditionCellArray.count-1 inSection:0];
[self.tableView insertRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationTop];
[self.tableView endUpdates];
[self.tableView reloadData];
}
- (id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewStyle)style
{
self = [super initWithStyle:style];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
}
return self;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Uncomment the following line to preserve selection between presentations.
// self.clearsSelectionOnViewWillAppear = NO;
// Uncomment the following line to display an Edit button in the navigation bar for this view controller.
// self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem;
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#pragma mark - Table view data source
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
// Return the number of sections.
return 1;
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
// Return the number of rows in the section.
return self.conditionCellArray.count;
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"conditionCell";
ConditionCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[ConditionCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
}
// Configure the cell...
//cell.condition = (UITextField *)[cell viewWithTag:1];
return cell;
}
// Override to support conditional editing of the table view.
- (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canEditRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Return NO if you do not want the specified item to be editable.
return YES;
}
// Override to support editing the table view.
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) {
// Delete the row from the data source
[tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:#[indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade];
}
else if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleInsert) {
// Create a new instance of the appropriate class, insert it into the array, and add a new row to the table view
}
}
/*
// Override to support rearranging the table view.
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)fromIndexPath toIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)toIndexPath
{
}
*/
/*
// Override to support conditional rearranging of the table view.
- (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canMoveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Return NO if you do not want the item to be re-orderable.
return YES;
}
*/
#pragma mark - Table view delegate
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Navigation logic may go here. Create and push another view controller.
/*
<#DetailViewController#> *detailViewController = [[<#DetailViewController#> alloc] initWithNibName:#"<#Nib name#>" bundle:nil];
// ...
// Pass the selected object to the new view controller.
[self.navigationController pushViewController:detailViewController animated:YES];
*/
}
#end
This Table View Controller lives inside a UIView Controller as the table view does not take up the whole screen. When the user presses an 'ok' button there is a segue that is triggered and it is here that I ask this Table View Controller for the array containing the UITableViewCells, which I then run through a foreach to get their .text properties. Unfortunately I can't seem to get anything I input into the text fields, hence the .text's are always nil. If anyone could help me with this issue it would be greatly appreciated!
You might find this much easier to do using the free Sensible TableView framework. The framework has these text field cells out of the box, and can even create them automatically from your array.
I figured out a better way to do what I wanted to do here that works. Turns out that the way iOS's UITableView works is totally different from what I wanted to do. UITableView works by looking at your storyboard and given the identifiers for the cells, it creates them and allows you to set their properties within the cellForRowAtIndexPath method. However, when the cell goes offscreen, it is not retained as it's own separate object; it is reused. So, you can think of it as if when you scroll a table view, the cells that disappear to one end reappear on the other end with new information. This is key - UITableView want YOU to provide the cell's information. It was not made for input of information directly on a UITableViewCell, which is what I wanted to do.
So what I ended up doing was copy-pasting my cells into their own .xib file, and in the subclass initWithStyle:reuseIdentifier method, do:
NSArray *nibArray = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"ConditionCell" owner:self options:nil];
self = [nibArray objectAtIndex:0];
And that creates the cell with whatever style - setup - UI elements you want.
Next, I want to hold on to a reference to the cell, because that cell has a textbox, and I need to save what's on the textbox when the user presses a "done" button. However, testing revealed the reuse problem I explained above. So how to do this? In my Table's view controller, whenever the user wants to add a new textbox (and presses the button to do so) I have a method which does
[self.conditionCellArray insertObject:[[ConditionCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"conditionCell"] atIndex:0];
This adds a new cell to an array - this is important because I need to have a reference to ALL cells at all times. (It is adding the cell at index 0 because I want to insert it at the top). Then, in the cellForRowAtIndexPath method, I did
return [self.conditionCellArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
Which will return the corresponding cell. Bear in mind, from what I have read this whole thing about keeping a reference to each and every cell in the table is contrary to Apple's stated best practices when using UITableView. However, as I said before, UITableView is meant to display information, not to gather it from user input. So this is why I had to break the rules, if you will, to achieve the desired effect (that I wanted). I hope this helps others who are looking to do the same thing; and if there is a better way don't be shy about telling me.
EDIT: Oh by the way, when you copy paste the cells created in storyboard to their own .xib file make sure to disconnect any IBOutlets and change their class back to UITableViewCell. That way there won't be any problems or conflicts when you connect your .xib file cell.