Changing Custom UITableViewCell Label from non-tableview class causes error - swift

Question

I have a generic cell ItemCell that can display any kind of item. The descendant of my Item class is my Armor class. I have a function inArmor that overrides a function in Itemthat returns an ItemCell. However no matter what label, when I try to change the text value of one I get the error below. I can't even set a hard coded string. I also checked the ItemCell class and it's .xib file and everything is linked. Is there something I'm missing? Let me know what code you would need to see as I have no idea where this issue is coming from.
fatal error: unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value
CharacterTableView.swift
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "ItemCell", bundle: nil), forCellReuseIdentifier: "ItemCell")
switch sections[indexPath.section] {
case "Equipped":
return Character.inventory.equippedGear[indexPath.row].cell
case "Armor":
return Character.inventory.unequippedArmor[indexPath.row].cell
case "Weapons":
return Character.inventory.unequippedWeapons[indexPath.row].cell
case "Healing":
return Character.inventory.healingItems[indexPath.row].cell
default:
return ItemCell()
}
}
Armor.swift
override var cell: ItemCell {
let cell = ItemCell()
cell.name.text = "Name"
}
ItemCell.swift
class ItemCell: UITableViewCell {
//MARK: - IBOutlets
#IBOutlet weak var imageItem: UIImageView!
#IBOutlet weak var name: UILabel!
#IBOutlet weak var imageStat1: UIImageView!
#IBOutlet weak var labelStat1: UILabel!
#IBOutlet weak var imageStat2: UIImageView!
#IBOutlet weak var labelStat2: UILabel!
}

Answer 1

I see several potential problems in your code that can cause the crash.
You register your cell in tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell, but you don't dequeue a cell. This looks to me as that you are returning a cell that has no relation to the tableview that is requesting the cell.
You have a UITableViewCell with many outlets, but you don't set these outlets anywhere. This means that all the outlets except the name will be nil and be explicitly unwrapped (because of the !) when displayed in the table view.
You switch on indexPath. section and assumes there the sections are Strings that you have defined. I can't check whether this is the case and if the datasource call really comes with the stings as section. Have your checked this while debugging?
As a default you bluntly return an empty ItemCell. By empty I mean that none of the outlets are set and therefor empty. The labels are explicitly unwrapped (because of the !) and will make your app crash.
I hope this helps you solve the problem.

Answer 2

To create cells for a table, you should be calling something like…
tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "ItemCell", for: indexPath) as! ItemCell
Also, you might find it better to use an enum than an array of Strings for your sections:
enum Sections: Int {
equipped, armour, weapons, healing
}
And your cell should be registered just once. So…
enum Sections: Int {
equipped, armour, weapons, healing
}
override func viewDidload() {
super.viewDidLoad()
tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "ItemCell", bundle: nil), forCellReuseIdentifier: "ItemCell")
}
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "ItemCell", for: indexPath) as! ItemCell
guard let section = Section(rawValue: indexPath.section) else {
return cell
}
switch section {
case .equipped:
cell.item = Character.inventory.equippedGear[indexPath.row]
case .armour:
// etc
case .weapons:
// etc
case .healing:
// etc
}
return cell
}