Custom UITableViewCell Not Using .xib (Most Likely Because of Flaw in init Method)

Question

I subclassed the UITableViewCell in order to customize it, but I think I\'m missing something because: 1) It\'s not working and 2) There are a couple of things I\'m confused

Answer 1

You have to load the cell from the .xib instead:

if ( cell == nil ) {
    cell = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"CellXIBName" owner:nil options:nil][0];
}

// set the cell's properties

Answer 2

The easiest way (available since iOS 5.0) to create a custom table view cell in a nib file is to use registerNib:forCellReuseIdentifier: in the table view controller. The big advantage is that dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier: then automatically instantiates a cell from the nib file if necessary. You don't need the if (cell == nil) ... part anymore.

In viewDidLoad of the table view controller you add

[self.tableView registerNib:[UINib nibWithNibName:@"CueTableCell" bundle:nil] forCellReuseIdentifier:@"CueTableCell"];

and in cellForRowAtIndexPath you just do

CueTableCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"CueTableCell"];
// setup cell
return cell;

Cells loaded from a nib file are instantiated using initWithCoder, you can override that in your subclass if necessary. For modifications to the UI elements, you should override awakeFromNib (don't forget to call "super").

Answer 3

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    static NSString *simpleTableIdentifier = @"CueTableCell";

    CueTableCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:simpleTableIdentifier];

    if (cell == nil) {
        NSArray *array = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"CueTableCell XibName" owner:self options:nil];
        // Grab a pointer to the first object (presumably the custom cell, as that's all the XIB should contain).
        cell = [array objectAtIndex:0];
    }

    return cell;
}