UITableViewCell customization - change background - iphone

Question

I'm sure this is a question that been asked and answered, but I can't seem to find what I need. I am trying to customize the background of my UITableView, so to do this, I created a subclass of UITableViewCell, and built my custom cell with the IB. I successfully connected the custom cell to the table view, so the cell I get is getting displayed. I am trying to change the background of each cell, so here is what I use:
if(row == 1){
rowBackground = [UIImage imageNamed:#"VehicleExpenses_button.png"];
selectionBackground = [UIImage imageNamed:#"VehicleExpenses_button_selected.png"];
((UIImageView *)cell.backgroundView).image = rowBackground;
// ((UIImageView *)cell.selectedBackgroundView).image = selectionBackground;
}
within the
(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
method of my Controller class. I checked with the debugger, and all the lines in the code are getting called...
Any ideas?
This is the entire method:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"HomeViewCell";
static NSString *CellNib = #"HomeViewCell";
UIImage *rowBackground;
UIImage *selectionBackground;
NSInteger row = [indexPath row];
UITableViewCell *cell = (UITableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
NSArray *nib = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:CellNib owner:self options:nil];
cell = (UITableViewCell *)[nib objectAtIndex:0];
}
if(row == 1){
rowBackground = [UIImage imageNamed:#"VehicleExpenses_button.png"];
selectionBackground = [UIImage imageNamed:#"VehicleExpenses_button_selected.png"];
((UIImageView *)cell.backgroundView).image = rowBackground;
// ((UIImageView *)cell.selectedBackgroundView).image = selectionBackground;
}
// perform additional custom work...
return cell;
}

Answer 1

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see where you initialized the backgroundView as a UIImageView. Here is what I would add to the lines where you create the cells:
UITableViewCell *cell = (UITableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
NSArray *nib = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:CellNib owner:self options:nil];
cell = (UITableViewCell *)[nib objectAtIndex:0];
cell.backgroundView = [[[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, tableView.bounds.size.width, cellHeight)] autorelease];
cell.selectedBackgroundView = [[[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, tableView.bounds.size.width, cellHeight)] autorelease];
}
Note: replace "cellHeight" with your desired height.
I hope this helps.

Answer 2

You can use this:
UIImageView *cellBackGround = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"selectedRow.png"]];
[[tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:indexPath] setBackgroundView:cellBackGround];
[cellBackGround release];

Answer 3

Small problem. Instead of casting and setting the backgroundView and selectedBackgroundView's image property, set them to the UIImageView created from your images.
cell.backgroundView = [[[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:rowBackground] autorelease];
cell.selectedBackgroundView = [[[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:selectionBackground] autorelease];