Instance of class does not initialize IBOutlets in class

Question

I have a class called AccountPanelController that contains two variables: an IBOutlet to an NSTableView, as well as a simple Int. When I run my app, awakeFromNib: prints that both the NSTableView and the Int have been initialized. From another file, I have created and initialized an instance of the class AcountPanelController. Via a button connected to that other file, I call openPanel: on the instance. At that point accountTable does not exist but somehow number does. In other words, when I initialize the instance of my class the Int is being created, but the NSTableView, an IBOutlet, is not. Why is this? I assume it is because accountTable is an IBOutlet, and therefore will not reinitialize. What can I do about this? (Xcode Version 6.1.1 (6A2008a), Cocoa, Swift)

Thanks,
bigelerow

class AccountPanelController: NSObject, NSTableViewDataSource {

    @IBOutlet weak var accountTable: NSTableView!
    var number: Int = 5

    override func awakeFromNib() {
        println(accountTable) // prints "<NSTableView: 0x100512aa0>"
        println(number) // prints "5"
    }

    func openPanel() {
        println(number) // prints "5"
        println(accountTable) // prints "nil"
        accountTable.reloadData() // throws error "unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value"
    }

    // NSTableView data source functions below...

}

Other File

@IBAction func buttonPressed(sender: AnyObject?) {
    var instance = AccountPanelController()
    instance.openPanel()
}

Answer 1

IB automatically creates instances of all objects with IBOutlets when their xib file is loaded. So, instead of creating my own, second, instance in another file:
var instance = AccountPanelController()

I simply made a reference to the instance IB had already made for me:
IBOutlet weak var IBInstance: AcountPanelController!

Unlike the second instance, this IB created version contained initialized IBOutlets. When I referenced AccountTable it was not nil.