Question

I have a weird problem with the indexPath.section from the cellForRowAtIndexPath: method.

I have a grouped tableview with 4 sections and I’m trying to apply a custom UITableViewCell for section 3, but it’s not working.

When I try if(indexPath.section==0){...} it works (and for section==1 and section==2 as well) but it fails for section==3. (?)

I don’t know why, that makes no sense.. Did someone already had this (strange) problem?

When I try if(indexPath.row==0){...} it works for all the 4 sections.. so..?!

Here is my code :

//ViewController.h
import "DirectionsTableViewCell.h"
DirectionsTableViewCell *directionsCell; // customized UITableViewCell

//ViewController.m
if (indexPath.section==3) {
        static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"directionsCell";

        DirectionsTableViewCell *cell = (DirectionsTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
        if(cell == nil) {
            [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"DirectionsTableViewCell" owner:self options:nil];
            cell = directionsCell;
        }

        return cell;
    }
    else {
        static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"defaultCell";

        UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
        if (cell == nil) {
            cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease];
        }

        cell.textLabel.text = @"Test";

        return cell;
    }

Problem solved !

I just added if(indexPath.row) and it works fine.

Finally you got this :

if(indexPath.section==3) {
   if(indexPath.row) {
      static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"directionsCell";

      DirectionsTableViewCell *cell = (DirectionsTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
      if(cell == nil) {
          [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"DirectionsTableViewCell" owner:self options:nil];
          cell = directionsCell;
      }

      return cell;
   }
}

Answer 1

Well, you’re never allocating a DirectionsTableViewCell inside your if(cell == nil).

In this section of your code:

DirectionsTableViewCell *cell = (DirectionsTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
        if(cell == nil) {
            [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"DirectionsTableViewCell" owner:self options:nil];
            cell = directionsCell;
        }

You never allocate a cell of type DirectionsTableViewCell for it to be reused later. I also notice you have an ivar named directionsCell of type DirectionsTableViewCell. Unless you’re allocating and setting it up elsewhere, cell = directionsCell ends up assigning a nil object to your cell

Try this code instead and see if it works:

static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"directionsCell";

directionsCell = (DirectionsTableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
    if(directionsCell == nil) {
        directionsCell = [[DirectionsTableViewCell alloc] init]; //Or whatever your initializer is
    }

    return directionsCell;