Data is disappearing from UITableView - ios

Question

I am building an iOS app with a custom tab bar at the top. When i click on the home icon, I want it to show a tableview directly below the tab bar. Currently my code does just that, however the data doesnt show correctly. If I limit my Cells to 4 or less (in the numberFoRowsInSection), the data will show, if i have like say 15 cells, the data shows for a split second and then it disappears. I have been looking at tutorials all over the place and everything seems to be correct, the data will show correctly in a stand alone view(like i created a similar to a singleview application in the story board and made that the initial view). I dont know where i am wrong. Below is my code in implementation file of the tableviewContoller class:
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
// Return the number of rows in the section.
return 4;//this works... but change to 15 it doesnt work
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
PrayerCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"CustomCell"];
if (cell == nil) {
NSLog(#"cell is Nil"); //never hits this
cell = [[PrayerCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"CustomCell"];
}
//the data showing is the correct data that i want to see
cell.dName.text = [[news objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] objectForKey:#"displayname"];
cell.priority.text = [[news objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]objectForKey:#"priority"];
cell.dateTime.text = [[news objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] objectForKey:#"datetime"];
cell.numPraying.text = #"2 praying";
cell.requestPreview.text = [[news objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] objectForKey:#"request"];
NSLog(#"created cell") //verify cell was made
return cell;
}
Here is my PrayerCell.H file
#interface PrayerCell : UITableViewCell
#property (weak, nonatomic)IBOutlet UILabel *requestPreview;
#property (weak, nonatomic)IBOutlet UILabel *dName;
#property (weak, nonatomic)IBOutlet UILabel *dateTime;
#property (weak, nonatomic)IBOutlet UILabel *numPraying;
#property (weak, nonatomic)IBOutlet UILabel *priority;
#end
I made no Changes to the prayerCell.M file
if you need me to post any other code blocks/screenshots please let me know.

Answer 1

The cell should not be an ivar, it should be a local variable. You also need to dequeue the cell in your tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath: method:
UITableViewCell* cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"CustomCell"];