How to set contents of a table view in Xcode 4.2?

Question

I am a complete newbie to iOS development but not to programming.

I am trying to create a simple application. I have opened Xcode 4.2 and created a new master view application. What I want to do is to set the contents of the table view in the master page.

I have edited my controller header file like this:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface MyAppMasterViewController : UITableViewController

{
    NSArray *tableViewArray;
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *tableViewArray;

@end

I have synthesized the tableViewArray variable in the controller implementation:

#import "MyAppMasterViewController.h"

@implementation MyAppMasterViewController

@synthesize tableViewArray;

And I have loaded an NSArray isntance into it in viewDidLoad method:

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
    NSArray *array = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:@"Apple", @"Microsoft", @"HTC", nil];
    self.tableViewArray = array;
}

How can I, now, assign this array (tableViewArray) to the table view?

Answer 1

How can I, now, assign this array (tableViewArray) to the table view?

You don't 'assign' an array to a table, you use some magic with delegates. Conform to the UITableViewDataSource and UITableViewDelegate in your .h like so:

@interface MyAppMasterViewController : UITableViewController <UITableViewDelegate,UITableViewDataSource>

Assign your class as the delegate (most likely in -viewDidLoad) for the table: then, your table view will query you for the all important -cellForRowAtIndexPath method, in which you set the title of the cell with something like this:

-(UITableViewCell*)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell";

    UITableViewCell *cell = [_documentTableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
    if (cell == nil) {
        cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
    }

    cell.textLabel.text = [array objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    return ( cell );

}