Xcode: Pass NSString from one class to another problem - iphone

Question

OK this should be an easy one but still im breaking my head here:
In my root view controller I have a NSString called "entry" and is working perfectly. I NSLogged it and it works.
I have another class called ´ParseOperation´ and in it i have a NSStringcalled "localEntry" and im trying to send to "ParseOperation" the variable "entry" from "RootViewController" this is my RootViewController code for that:
RootViewController.m
ParseOperation *parseOperation = [[ParseOperation alloc] init];
parseOperation.localEntry = entry;
It just doesn't work. If I NSLog in my ParseOperation.m it returns "null", but if i do it on my RootViewController it returns the correct variable. and yes i did imported the ParseOperation.h
Here is the ParseOperation code (only the part that uses localEntry):
ParseOperation.h
#interface ParseOperation : NSOperation <NSXMLParserDelegate>
{
NSString *localEntry;
}
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *localEntry;
#end
ParseOperation.m
#synthesize localEntry;
- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didStartElement:(NSString *)elementName
namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI
qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName
attributes:(NSDictionary *)attributeDict
{
//NSLog(#"entrada %#",localEntry);
if ([elementName isEqualToString:localEntry])
{
self.workingEntry = [[[AppRecord alloc] init] autorelease];
}
storingCharacterData = [elementsToParse containsObject:elementName];
}
- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didEndElement:(NSString *)elementName
namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI
qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName
{
if (self.workingEntry)
{
if (storingCharacterData)
{
NSString *trimmedString = [workingPropertyString stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:
[NSCharacterSet whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet]];
[workingPropertyString setString:#""]; // clear the string for next time
if ([elementName isEqualToString:kIDStr])
{
self.workingEntry.appURLString = trimmedString;
}
else if ([elementName isEqualToString:kNameStr])
{
self.workingEntry.appName = trimmedString;
}
else if ([elementName isEqualToString:kImageStr])
{
self.workingEntry.imageURLString = trimmedString;
}
else if ([elementName isEqualToString:kArtistStr])
{
self.workingEntry.artist = trimmedString;
}
}
else if ([elementName isEqualToString:localEntry])
{
[self.workingArray addObject:self.workingEntry];
self.workingEntry = nil;
}
}
}
THANKS!

Answer 1

In all likelihood, rootViewController is nil. When you declare and synthesize a property, it only creates the getter/setter methods for you. It does not initialize the variable to anything.
Since objective-c allows you to message nil, you won't crash when you write:
NSString *localentry = rootViewController.entry;
Messaging nil just returns nil. So if rootViewController is nil, then localentry will be nil as well.
Make sure you're actually setting rootViewController for this class. For example,
ParseOperation *myOperation = [[ParseOperation alloc] init];
[myOperation setRootViewController:rootViewController];
Or, make sure you've established the outlet connection in Interface Builder. In any case, I'd suspect rootViewController is nil. (You can test this with NSLog statements).

Answer 2

Are you sure, since it is an IBOutlet, that you connected to it in interface builder?

Answer 3

To answer my own question I just had to connect the viewController and the ParseOperation programmatically by adding the following to my header in the parseOperation:
#class RootViewController;
RootViewController *rootViewController;
#property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet RootViewController *rootViewController;
And the following on the m file of the ParseOperation:
#import "RootViewController.h"
rootViewController = [[RootViewController alloc]init];
After that in the parse operation I just declared:
localEntry= rootViewContoller.entry;