Columns added programmatically to NSTableView not recognised in Delegate - swift

Question

I may be lost in a glass of water but I can't seem to be able to add columns to a NSTableView that are then recognised in the NSTableViewDelegate. I create a table in IB with one column and give the column a string identifier. The I add the other columns in the View Controller:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
for columnIndex in 0..<blotter!.singleOutput[0].parameter.count {
let tmpParam = blotter!.singleOutput[0].parameter[columnIndex]
let column = NSTableColumn(identifier: NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier(rawValue: tmpParam.columnID))
column.title = tmpParam.label
column.width = CGFloat(80)
column.minWidth = CGFloat(40)
column.maxWidth = CGFloat(120)
blotterOutputTable.addTableColumn(column)
}
blotterOutputTable.delegate = self
blotterOutputTable.dataSource = self
blotterOutputTable.target = self
blotterOutputTable.reloadData()
}
The NSTableViewDataSource returns the correct number of rows. The problem I have is in the NSTableViewDelegate:
extension OutputsViewController: NSTableViewDelegate {
func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, viewFor tableColumn: NSTableColumn?, row: Int) -> NSView? {
var text: String = ""
var cellIdentifier: String = ""
guard let item = blotter?.singleOutput[row] else { return nil }
// 1. LABELS COLUMN
// ================
if tableColumn?.identifier.rawValue == "dealColumn" {
let myParameter = item.parameter.index(where: {$0.columnID == "BBTickColumn"})
text = item.parameter[myParameter!].value as! String
cellIdentifier = "dealColumn"
if let cell = tableView.makeView(withIdentifier: NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier(rawValue: cellIdentifier), owner: nil) as? NSTableCellView {
cell.textField?.stringValue = text
return cell
}
else { return nil }
} // END OF LABLES COLUMN (FIRST ONE)
else { // THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS
let myParameter = item.parameter.index(where: {$0.columnID == tableColumn?.identifier.rawValue } )
let (_, valueAsText) = item.parameter[myParameter!].interfaceItems()
text = valueAsText
cellIdentifier = item.parameter[myParameter!].columnID
if let cell = tableView.makeView(withIdentifier: NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier(rawValue: cellIdentifier), owner: nil) as? NSTableCellView {
cell.textField?.stringValue = text
return cell
}
else { return nil } // DEBUGGER PARAMETER ARE FROM HERE
}
}
}
The first column is the one I created in IB with its identifier. That works. The problem I have is in the else statement (which does not check for a column identifier). Below are the parameters as I see them in the debugger window when I stop the program after the cell creation failed
tableView NSTableView 0x000000010ebf9df0
tableColumn NSTableColumn? 0x0000600000895770
row Int 0
self DataBaseManager.OutputsViewController 0x0000600000102b50
text String "FLAT"
cellIdentifier String "directionColumn"
item DataBaseManager.BlotterOutputs 0x000060000002c240
myParameter Array.Index? 0
valueAsText String "FLAT"
cell (null) (null) (null)
tableColumn NSTableColumn? 0x0000600000895770
tableColumn?.identifier NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier? some
_rawValue _NSContiguousString "directionColumn" 0x000060000104d200
Swift._SwiftNativeNSString _SwiftNativeNSString
_core _StringCore
You can see that cellIdentifier and the tableColumn?.identifier.rawvalue are the same string (as it should be). I cannot understand then why the cell is not created. Any help is mostly welcome and let me know if this is not clear. Thanks

Answer 1

must register nibs identifiers as in this code:
import Cocoa
class MultiColumnTable: NSViewController, NSTableViewDataSource, NSTableViewDelegate {
var list = [[String]](), header=[String]()
var tableView : NSTableView? = nil
var nColumns : Int = 0
func genID(col : Int) -> NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier { // generate column ID
return NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier(rawValue: String(format: "Col%d", col))
}
func setContent(header: [String], list : [[String]]) {
self.header = header
self.list = list
self.nColumns = list[0].count
if tableView != nil {
tableView?.reloadData()
}
}
func numberOfRows(in tableView: NSTableView) -> Int {
func createColumns() {
func addColumn(col:Int, header:String) {
let tableColumn = NSTableColumn(identifier: genID(col: col))
tableColumn.headerCell.title = header
self.tableView!.addTableColumn(tableColumn)
}
// create columns and register them in NIB
// IB: tableColumn[0] identifier ( NSTableColumn to "Col0" )
if let myCellViewNib = tableView.registeredNibsByIdentifier![NSUserInterfaceItemIdentifier(rawValue: "Col0")] {
for col in 0..<nColumns { // table should have 1 col in IB w/Ident 'Col0'
addColumn(col: col, header: header[col])
tableView.register(myCellViewNib, forIdentifier: genID(col: col)) // register the above Nib for the newly added tableColumn
}
tableView.removeTableColumn(tableView.tableColumns[0]) // remove the original Col0
}
}
self.tableView = tableView
createColumns()
return list.count
}
func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, viewFor tableColumn: NSTableColumn?, row: Int) -> NSView? {
let column = tableView.tableColumns.firstIndex(of: tableColumn!)!
tableColumn?.headerCell.title=header[column];
if let cell = tableView.makeView(withIdentifier: (tableColumn?.identifier)!, owner: self) as? NSTableCellView {
cell.textField?.stringValue = list[row][column]
cell.textField?.textColor = NSColor.blue
return cell
}
return nil
}
func tableViewSelectionDidChange(_ notification: Notification) {
}
}