Swift Compiler error while referencing existing variable [duplicate] - swift

Question

This question already has an answer here:
Swift: expected declaration error setting "Label" to a string variable
(1 answer)
Closed 7 years ago.
I am trying to manually create some placeholder text for a UITextView, and when I try to set the placeholder text, I get a Swift compiler error. Xcode is telling me that it expected a declaration for pinContent where I first try to set it's text value. Here's my code:
class FirstViewController: UIViewController {
#IBOutlet var pinTitle: UITextField!
#IBOutlet var pinContent: UITextView!
#IBAction func createPin(sender: AnyObject) {
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
println(userLocation)
}
// Manually create a placeholder for the text view
pinContent.text = "Description" // This line is where I get my error
pinContent.textColor = UIColor.lightGrayColor()
// Change the text properties of the text view when the user begins editing, so it types in the normal black font
func textViewDidBeginEditing(textView: UITextView) {
if textView.textColor == UIColor.lightGrayColor() {
textView.text = nil
textView.textColor = UIColor.blackColor()
}
}
// If the user leaves the text view blank when they're done editing, re-set the placeholder
func textViewDidEndEditing(textView: UITextView) {
if textView.text.isEmpty {
textView.text = "Description" // Sometimes I get the same error here as well
textView.textColor = UIColor.lightGrayColor()
}
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
}

Answer 1

The problem seems to be that you want to set the text outside of the scope of a method or a closure. Try this:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
// Manually create a placeholder for the text view
pinContent.text = "Description" // This line is where I get my error
pinContent.textColor = UIColor.lightGrayColor()
println(userLocation)
}