UITableView not reloading correctly

Question

I've been having this problem a lot where the table view either doesn't load the cells the first time or displays temporary labels. In both cases, when the table is loaded a second time (by another button in which I force it to reload or by going to the previous view in the app and going back to the table) everything shows up as it was supposed to.

Im using [table reloadData] to reload the table in the viewDidAppear: method as it didn't work in the viewDidAppear: method and in another case I put it in a button action.

I'm also using this method to set the label of the cell that I have placed in the storyboard:

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
    {
    static NSString *cellIdentifier = @"Cell";
    UITableViewCell *cell = [contactsTableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier];

    if (cell == nil) {
        cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:cellIdentifier];
    }
    UILabel *label = (UILabel *)[cell viewWithTag:1001];
    label.text = [Array3 objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];

    return cell;
}

EDIT

I declare the array below the implementation like: NSMutableArray * Array3; After that in the ViewDidLoad method I declare the rest of the array: Array3 = [NSMutableArray arrayWithObjects: nil]; Then I load the elements in the array by calling a function within the ViewDidLoad method to fill the array with elements.

EDIT 2 Showing more of how I populate the array - (void)viewDidLoad {

[super viewDidLoad];
Array3 = [NSMutableArray arrayWithObjects: nil];
 [self loadArray];

}
- (void) loadArray
//populate array in here.
// I use the add object method
//  [Array3 addobject:object];
{

Answer 1

1. Good news first: Your method cellForRowAtIndexPath is correct.

2. There is no need to invoke reloadData in neither -viewDidAppear: nor -viewWillAppear. This remark may not hold true if you modify the content of Array3 while your view is covered, which is a special case.

It is not a matter of where you define your method, but where you invoke it. A reasonable place to populate the content of Array3 is in

required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder!)

or

override func viewDidLoad()

Pitfalls

Additionally, you need all your delegate methods (numberOfSectionsInTableView, numberOfRowsInSection, cellForRowAtIndexPath) to be returning consistent values, in accordance to your array. A simple technique is to use the number of entries in the array to drive numberOfRowsInSection.

When to use reloadData?

A typical use of reloadData is shown below:

- (void)loadArray {
    //populate array in here.
    ...
    [self.tableview reloadData]; // Possibly postpone to main thread
}