iOS UITableViewCell detailTextLabel not showing

Question

I wish for each cell to have the detailTextLabel showing.

The cell is instantiated (at cellForRowAtIndexPath:) with :

UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"Cell" forIndexPath:indexPath];

And i tryed to set the style type with:

if (cell == nil) {
    cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle 
                                   reuseIdentifier:@"Cell"] autorelease];
}

(My xcode gave ARC warning with the auto release, so i also tryed with it omitted. Same result though)

I'm a little confused. Obviously without the cell == nil, the first section of code is in vain, yet with it, the cell never has the detailTextLabel showing. (Yes, cell.detailTextLabel.text is being set correctly)

How would i go about this?

Update: as i am using storyboard i was able to achieve the required result by setting the Cell style to 'subtitle'. However this question of how to go about it programmatically still stands

Are you using storyboard? if yes have a look at this thread http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15424453/why-is-my-uitableviewcell-not-showing-detailtextlabel-in-any-style — riyaz, Jan 07 '15 at 10:43
haha, i found the storyboard solution as soon as you posted the comment. thank you anyway! although this has resolved the issue, the question of how to complete this programmatically still stands — Simon., Jan 07 '15 at 10:47
If you **ditch** the story board and do it programatic, your code should work fine. P.S remove autorelease — riyaz, Jan 07 '15 at 11:01
If you are using `dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:forIndexPath:`, then it's not possible to have `cell == nil`. Apple guarantees that you have a `UITableViewCell` instance when that method returns. If you want to use Storyboards, then your solution is **THE** solution. Alternatively, you can do it the "old" way (`dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:`) and **then** you can check for `cell == nil` and create a new `UITableViewCell` if needed. — mbm29414, Jan 07 '15 at 19:31
I understand. I think the option of doing things, either via storyboard or via code was unclear for me, however I have a better understanding from this. if you wish to put your comment into an answer i'll happily accept it for this question — Simon., Jan 08 '15 at 09:17

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 08 '15 at 21:54

Changing to the following code should work when doing this programmatically. (thanks really to mbm29414)

UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"Cell"];
if (cell == nil) {
    cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle 
                                  reuseIdentifier:@"Cell"];
}

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 08 '17 at 20:18

The modern way of creating a table cell is to register the cell, and then dequeue it with the index path. The problem is, that if you register UITableViewCell you will always get a cell of type default.

The solution is to subclass UITableViewCell and set the style in it. For example:

class SubtitleTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {

  override init(style: UITableViewCellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
    super.init(style: .subtitle, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
  }

  required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    fatalError()
  }
}

Now, use your subclass when registering.

let table = UITableView(frame: .zero, style: .plain)
table.register(DebugTableViewCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: identifier)

iOS UITableViewCell detailTextLabel not showing

2 Answers2