Initialization of controls in custom uiview - iphone

Question

I've created a custom uiview in IB and set the class for it.
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#interface myView : UIControl {
IBOutlet UITextView *textView;
}
#end
#import "myView.h"
#implementation myView
- (void)commonInit
{
[textView setText:#"lajsdfklasdfjl"];
}
- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder
{
if (self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder])
{
[self commonInit];
}
return self;
}
-(id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
if (self = [super initWithFrame:frame])
{
[self commonInit];
}
return self;
}
#end
I put a textview with text on this view in IB and linked it to IBOutlet IUTextView *textView.
When I drag this custom view on my UIViewController (from classes tab in IB's library) the view is empty.
- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder is calling but the textView is null.
What is wrong? Thanks

Answer 1

As far as I remember, the hierarchy is not properly set up in init, as the properties can only be set after init has finished.
You want to use
-(void)awakeFromNib
{
[super awakeFromNib];
[self commonInit];
}
instead and remove the initWithCoder: thing altogether.
As a side note, you should let your class names begin with upper case letters.

Answer 2

There should be nothing stopping you from using a custom UIViewController which has methods built in for initializing or deallocating the UIView that it contains. I found this to be a simpler solution. For example, you can set up your custom UIViewController using a nib with a UIView, then make sure your File's Owner is set to the custom class.
You can then remove the following 3 instance methods
- (void)commonInit
- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
and in your custom UIViewController class use initWithNibName as below
- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil
{
self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
self.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 44, self.view.frame.size.width, self.view.frame.size.height);
}
return self;
}
This initWithNibName instance method will be called automatically when you alloc your custom UIViewController class like this
CustomUIViewController *vc = [[CustomUIViewController alloc] init];
Put a break point in initWithNibName and you will see it called.