creating custom tableview cells in swift

Question

I have a custom cell class with a couple of IBOutlets. I have added the class to the storyboard. I have connected all my outlets. my cellForRowAtIndexPath function looks like this:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView!, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath!) -> UITableViewCell! {
        let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("Cell", forIndexPath: indexPath) as SwipeableCell

        cell.mainTextLabel.text = self.venueService.mainCategoriesArray()[indexPath.row]

        return cell
    }

Here is my custom cell class:

class SwipeableCell: UITableViewCell {
    @IBOutlet var option1: UIButton
    @IBOutlet var option2: UIButton
    @IBOutlet var topLayerView : UIView
    @IBOutlet var mainTextLabel : UILabel
    @IBOutlet var categoryIcon : UIImageView

    init(style: UITableViewCellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String!) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)


    }
}

When I run the app, all my cell are empty. I have logged out self.venueService.mainCategoriesArray() and it contains all the correct strings. I have also tried putting an actual string equal to the label, and that produces the same result.

What am I missing? Any help is appreciated.

I was facing the same problem looking and scratching my head again and again, then deleted all the image view and labels from the custom cell and redesigned it with new constraints. And it worked fine. So constraints could be the issue at your end also. Adjust the row size manually first and then add components — Shrikant Phadke, Feb 24 '21 at 09:04

Suragch · Answer 1 · 2020-08-06T02:40:21.937

Custom Table View Cell Example

Tested with Xcode 9 (edit also tested on 11 / 12 Beta 2) and Swift 4 (edit: also tested on 5.2)

The asker of the original question has solved their problem. I am adding this answer as a mini self contained example project for others who are trying to do the same thing.

The finished project should look like this:

Create a new project

It can be just a Single View Application.

Add the code

Add a new Swift file to your project. Name it MyCustomCell.swift. This class will hold the outlets for the views that you add to your cell in the storyboard.

import UIKit
class MyCustomCell: UITableViewCell {
    @IBOutlet weak var myView: UIView!
    @IBOutlet weak var myCellLabel: UILabel!
}

We will connect these outlets later.

Open ViewController.swift and make sure you have the following content:

import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
    
    // These strings will be the data for the table view cells
    let animals: [String] = ["Horse", "Cow", "Camel", "Sheep", "Goat"]
    
    // These are the colors of the square views in our table view cells.
    // In a real project you might use UIImages.
    let colors = [UIColor.blue, UIColor.yellow, UIColor.magenta, UIColor.red, UIColor.brown]
    
    // Don't forget to enter this in IB also
    let cellReuseIdentifier = "cell"
    
    @IBOutlet var tableView: UITableView!
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        tableView.delegate = self
        tableView.dataSource = self
    }
    
    // number of rows in table view
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return self.animals.count
    }
    
    // create a cell for each table view row
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        
        let cell:MyCustomCell = self.tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: cellReuseIdentifier) as! MyCustomCell
        
        cell.myView.backgroundColor = self.colors[indexPath.row]
        cell.myCellLabel.text = self.animals[indexPath.row]
        
        return cell
    }
    
    // method to run when table view cell is tapped
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        print("You tapped cell number \(indexPath.row).")
    }
}

Setup the storyboard

Add a Table View to your view controller and use auto layout to pin it to the four sides of the View Controller. Then drag a Table View Cell onto the Table View. And then drag a View and a Label onto the Prototype cell. (You may need to select the Table View Cell and manually set the Row Height to something taller in the Size inspector so that you have more room to work with.) Use auto layout to fix the View and the Label how you want them arranged within the content view of the Table View Cell. For example, I made my View be 100x100.

Other IB settings

Custom class name and Identifier

Select the Table View Cell and set the custom class to be MyCustomCell (the name of the class in the Swift file we added). Also set the Identifier to be cell (the same string that we used for the cellReuseIdentifier in the code above.

Hook Up the Outlets

Control drag from the Table View in the storyboard to the tableView variable in the ViewController code.
Do the same for the View and the Label in your Prototype cell to the myView and myCellLabel variables in the MyCustomCell class.

Finished

That's it. You should be able to run your project now.

Notes

The colored views that I used here could be replaced with anything. An obvious example would be a UIImageView.
If you are just trying to get a TableView to work, see this even more basic example.
If you need a Table View with variable cell heights, see this example.

@codebased, I haven't actually tried that myself yet, but I would start by adding [gesture recognizers](http://stackoverflow.com/a/32480721/3681880) to the separate views. — Suragch, Apr 15 '16 at 12:03
@Suragch thank you for the detailed explanation. In following your steps, I'm getting this error in the console "fatal error: unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value" and errmsg "EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (code=EXC_1386_INVOP, subcode=0x0) at compile time at the let cell:MyCustomCell = self.tableView.... line. Might you know what I am missing? Thanks a lot. The only change I've made is to use 2 UILabels instead of an image and a label. — rockhammer, Jun 23 '16 at 03:24
@rockhammer, two possibilities are that you (1) didn't connect the `IBOutlet` or (2) wrote the `cellReuseIdentifier` string name wrong in IB. If it is neither of these, check the other answers on SO that describe your problem. There are many of them. [Example](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24643522/fatal-error-unexpectedly-found-nil-while-unwrapping-an-optional-values). — Suragch, Jun 23 '16 at 04:56
how can you set the `tableViewCell`'s style? Can't I customize a UITableViewCell that has a rightDetail style? I want to do it all programatically, but I just don't know how to setup the cell with that style — Honey, Jan 24 '17 at 14:51
@Honey, I haven't done that either. If [this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9912597/uitableviewcell-set-style-programmatically) doesn't address your question it might be a good candidate for a new one. — Suragch, Jan 24 '17 at 16:03
Thanks. read that before, it's objective-c and its being done from tableView, as far as I know, you don't initiate a tableviewCell, you just register and dequeue it. Please correct me if I'm wrong. — Honey, Jan 24 '17 at 16:15
@Honey, If you want to formulate this as a new question I'm willing to look at it. I don't really understand what it is that isn't working for you currently. — Suragch, Jan 24 '17 at 16:20
Hey @Suragch I followed this to set up my custom cell and it worked great, thank you. I can't seem to be able to use outlets to change properties of views inside my custom cell. Am I missing something? Would you be able to have a look? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55315771/swift-cant-edit-properties-of-custom-table-cell-programatically — CristianMoisei, Mar 23 '19 at 16:45

score 19 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '15 at 04:42

19

This is for who are working custom cell with .xib

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell{

    let identifier = "Custom"

    var cell: CustomCell! = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier(identifier) as? CustomCel  

      if cell == nil {
            tableView.registerNib(UINib(nibName: "CustomCell", bundle: nil), forCellReuseIdentifier: identifier)
           cell =tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier(identifier) as? CustomCell
        }return cell}

edited Apr 13 '15 at 04:42

Pang

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answered Apr 01 '15 at 05:31

ShigaSuresh

1,028
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10

The cell xib should be registered somewhere else like in viewDidLoad so it doesn't get called multiple times – MobileMon Dec 31 '16 at 20:46

score 16 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 28 '19 at 15:48

I have the same problem.

Generally what I did is the same as you.

class dynamicCell: UITableViewCell {

    @IBOutlet var testLabel : UILabel

    init(style: UITableViewCellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
    }

    override func awakeFromNib() {
        super.awakeFromNib()
    }

    override func setSelected(selected: Bool, animated: Bool) {
        super.setSelected(selected, animated: animated)
    }
}

and in the uitableviewcell method:

func tableView(tableView: UITableView!, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath!) -> UITableViewCell! {
    var cell :dynamicCell = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("cell") as dynamicCell

    cell.testLabel.text = "so sad"

    println(cell.testLabel)

    return cell;
}

and yeah the tableview shows nothing! But guess what, it actually shows something...because the log I get from the println(cell.testLabel) shows that all the Labels are actually displayed out.

BUT! their Frames is strange, which have something like this:

frame = (0 -21; 42 21);

so it has a (0,-21) as (x,y), so that means the label just appears at somewhere outside the bound of the cell.

so I try to add adjust the frame manually like this:

cell.testLabel.frame = CGRectMake(10, 10, 42, 21)

and sadly, it doesn't work.

---------------update after 10 min -----------------

I DID IT. so, it seems that the problem comes from the Size Classes.

Click on your .storyboard file and go to the File Inspector Tab

UNCHECK THE Size Classes checkbox

and finally, my "so sad"Label comes out!

What the heck is this "size classes" things ? And why does it resolve problem ? I hade exactly the same problem, even the origin of the custom label was the same (0 -21). But what's interesting, after unchecking "use size classes" it worked, and when i CHECK IT AGAIN it also worked... So it looks like a bug. — Paul Brewczynski, Jul 06 '14 at 07:13
size classes seems to me that lets the Xcode resize the Views and ViewControllers to different devices without doing too much additional work. Once you remove it the data of those other devices get deleted. So Re-checking it again doesn't automagically creates it hence it will still work. I had the same problem. — S.H., Sep 15 '14 at 15:25

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 23 '14 at 19:53

11

Thanks for all the different suggestions, but I finally figured it out. The custom class was set up correctly. All I needed to do, was in the storyboard where I choose the custom class: remove it, and select it again. It doesn't make much sense, but that ended up working for me.

answered Jun 23 '14 at 19:53

Nilzone-

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When you select a custom class, it also needs a module. If you enter the custom class name before you have actually created the class, the module isn't set. That's happened to me before, maybe that's what happened to you, too. – Joris Weimar Oct 29 '15 at 16:26
I had a similar problem. Helped to rename @IBOutlet weak var image: UIImageView! Because "image" - system name. – J A S K I E R Oct 08 '18 at 17:10

ErcanE · Answer 5 · 2014-10-08T18:09:22.270

Last Updated Version is with xCode 6.1

class StampInfoTableViewCell: UITableViewCell{


@IBOutlet weak var stampDate: UILabel!
@IBOutlet weak var numberText: UILabel!


override init?(style: UITableViewCellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
    super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
}

required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    //fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    super.init(coder: aDecoder)
}

override func awakeFromNib() {
    super.awakeFromNib()
}

override func setSelected(selected: Bool, animated: Bool) {
    super.setSelected(selected, animated: animated)
}
}

Vasily Bodnarchuk · Answer 6 · 2019-06-29T22:44:51.310

Details

Xcode Version 10.2.1 (10E1001), Swift 5

Solution

import UIKit

// MARK: - IdentifiableCell protocol will generate cell identifire based on the class name

protocol Identifiable: class {}
extension Identifiable { static var identifier: String { return "\(self)"} }

// MARK: - Functions which will use a cell class (conforming Identifiable protocol) to `dequeueReusableCell`

extension UITableView {
    typealias IdentifiableCell = UITableViewCell & Identifiable
    func register<T: IdentifiableCell>(class: T.Type) { register(T.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: T.identifier) }
    func register(classes: [Identifiable.Type]) { classes.forEach { register($0.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: $0.identifier) } }
    func dequeueReusableCell<T: IdentifiableCell>(aClass: T.Type, initital closure: ((T) -> Void)?) -> UITableViewCell {
        guard let cell = dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: T.identifier) as? T else { return UITableViewCell() }
        closure?(cell)
        return cell
    }
    func dequeueReusableCell<T: IdentifiableCell>(aClass: T.Type, for indexPath: IndexPath, initital closure: ((T) -> Void)?) -> UITableViewCell {
        guard let cell = dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: T.identifier, for: indexPath) as? T else { return UITableViewCell() }
        closure?(cell)
        return cell
    }
}

extension Array where Element == UITableViewCell.Type  {
    var onlyIdentifiables: [Identifiable.Type] { return compactMap { $0 as? Identifiable.Type } }
}

Usage

// Define cells classes
class TableViewCell1: UITableViewCell, Identifiable { /*....*/ }
class TableViewCell2: TableViewCell1 { /*....*/ }

// .....

// Register cells
tableView.register(classes: [TableViewCell1.self, TableViewCell2.self]. onlyIdentifiables)

// Create/Reuse cells
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    if (indexPath.row % 2) == 0 {
        return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(aClass: TableViewCell1.self, for: indexPath) { cell in
            // ....
        }
    } else {
        return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(aClass: TableViewCell2.self, for: indexPath) { cell in
            // ...
        }
    }
}

Full Sample

Do not forget to add the solution code here

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    private weak var tableView: UITableView?
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        setupTableView()
    }
}

// MARK: - Setup(init) subviews

extension ViewController {
    private func setupTableView() {
        let tableView = UITableView()
        view.addSubview(tableView)
        self.tableView = tableView
        tableView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        tableView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leftAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.rightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.rightAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.register(classes: [TableViewCell1.self, TableViewCell2.self, TableViewCell3.self].onlyIdentifiables)
        tableView.dataSource = self
    }
}

// MARK: - UITableViewDataSource

extension ViewController: UITableViewDataSource {
    func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int { return 1 }
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int { return 20 }
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        switch (indexPath.row % 3) {
        case 0:
            return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(aClass: TableViewCell1.self, for: indexPath) { cell in
                cell.textLabel?.text = "\(cell.classForCoder)"
            }
        case 1:
            return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(aClass: TableViewCell2.self, for: indexPath) { cell in
                cell.textLabel?.text = "\(cell.classForCoder)"
            }
        default:
            return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(aClass: TableViewCell3.self, for: indexPath) { cell in
                cell.textLabel?.text = "\(cell.classForCoder)"
            }
        }
    }
}

Results

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 23 '14 at 18:51

Uncheck "Size Classes" checkbox works for me as well, but you could also add the missing constraints in the interface builder. Just use the built-in function if you don't want to add the constraints on your own. Using constraints is - in my opinion - the better way because the layout is independent from the device (iPhone or iPad).

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Feb 09 '15 at 22:12

It is Purely swift notation an working for me

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell
    {
        var cellIdentifier:String = "CustomFields"
        var cell:CustomCell? = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier(cellIdentifier) as? CustomCell
        if (cell == nil)
        {
            var nib:Array = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("CustomCell", owner: self, options: nil)
            cell = nib[0] as? CustomCell
        }
        return cell!
    }

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Apr 20 '16 at 08:41

[1] First Design your tableview cell in StoryBoard.

[2] Put below table view delegate method

//MARK: - Tableview Delegate Methods

func numberOfSectionsInTableView(tableView: UITableView) -> Int
{
    return 1
}

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int
{

    return <“Your Array”>
}


func tableView(tableView: UITableView, heightForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGFloat
{

    var totalHeight : CGFloat = <cell name>.<label name>.frame.origin.y    

    totalHeight +=   UpdateRowHeight(<cell name>.<label name>, textToAdd: <your array>[indexPath.row])    

    return totalHeight
}


func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell
{


    var cell : <cell name>! = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier(“<cell identifire>”, forIndexPath: indexPath) as! CCell_VideoCall

    if(cell == nil)
    {
        cell = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("<cell identifire>", owner: self, options: nil)[0] as! <cell name>;
    }


    <cell name>.<label name>.text = <your array>[indexPath.row] as? String



    return cell as <cell name>
}

//MARK: - Custom Methods

func UpdateRowHeight ( ViewToAdd : UILabel , textToAdd : AnyObject  ) -> CGFloat{


    var actualHeight : CGFloat = ViewToAdd.frame.size.height

    if let strName : String? = (textToAdd as? String)
        where !strName!.isEmpty
    {

        actualHeight = heightForView1(strName!, font: ViewToAdd.font, width: ViewToAdd.frame.size.width, DesignTimeHeight: actualHeight )

    }
    return actualHeight
}

Mohamed Jaleel Nazir · Answer 10 · 2015-05-27T10:17:42.350

Set tag for imageview and label in cell

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int
{
    return self.tableData.count
}

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell
{

    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("imagedataCell", forIndexPath: indexPath) as! UITableViewCell

    let rowData = self.tableData[indexPath.row] as! NSDictionary

    let urlString = rowData["artworkUrl60"] as? String
    // Create an NSURL instance from the String URL we get from the API
    let imgURL = NSURL(string: urlString!)
    // Get the formatted price string for display in the subtitle
    let formattedPrice = rowData["formattedPrice"] as? String
    // Download an NSData representation of the image at the URL
    let imgData = NSData(contentsOfURL: imgURL!)


    (cell.contentView.viewWithTag(1) as! UIImageView).image = UIImage(data: imgData!)

    (cell.contentView.viewWithTag(2) as! UILabel).text = rowData["trackName"] as? String

    return cell
}

OR

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell
{
    let cell: UITableViewCell = UITableViewCell(style: UITableViewCellStyle.Default, reuseIdentifier: "imagedataCell")

    if let rowData: NSDictionary = self.tableData[indexPath.row] as? NSDictionary,
        urlString = rowData["artworkUrl60"] as? String,
        imgURL = NSURL(string: urlString),
        formattedPrice = rowData["formattedPrice"] as? String,
        imgData = NSData(contentsOfURL: imgURL),
        trackName = rowData["trackName"] as? String {
            cell.detailTextLabel?.text = formattedPrice
            cell.imageView?.image = UIImage(data: imgData)
            cell.textLabel?.text = trackName
    }

    return cell
}