Loading UIView from XIB using Storyboard - view's properties are nil

Question

I've created a view:

import UIKit

class TestNotWorkingView: UIView {
    @IBOutlet weak var label1: UILabel!
    @IBOutlet weak var label2: UILabel!
    @IBOutlet weak var label3: UILabel!
}

And connected with the corresponding XIB:

Then, I've added the view to the UIViewController on the Storyboard:

class ViewController: UIViewController {
@IBOutlet weak var testNotWorkingView: TestNotWorkingView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    print(testNotWorkingView)
    print(testNotWorkingView.label1)
}

}

When I run the app, only the parent view appears. No labels are visible:

Parent view:

Optional(TestProject.TestNotWorkingView: 0x7fb165e04610; frame = (0 0; 414 818); autoresize = RM+BM; layer = CALayer: 0x600001f254e0)

Querying one of the labels

nil

I've already set the TestNotWorkingView as the view's class and file owner.

I assume since the views are not present on the storyboard, they're not being created and linked at runtime.

How can I use views created in XIBs inside a ViewController created in Storyboard? Is it possible at all?

Test Project that fully reproduces the issue

pcz · Answer 1 · 2019-05-14T13:02:40.463

0

Using view designed in xib can be a bit tricky, you need to add this code to your TestNotWorkingView class:

override func awakeAfter(using aDecoder: NSCoder) -> Any? {
    guard subviews.isEmpty else {
        return self
    }
    return Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("TestNotWorkingView", owner: nil, options: nil)?.first
}

EDIT: also, you should leave File's Owner Empty, and connect outlets only to TestNotWorkingView

edited May 14 '19 at 13:02

answered May 14 '19 at 12:55

pcz

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Didn't solve the issue - https://pastebin.com/LEf4Wg9Y – Richard Topchii May 14 '19 at 12:58
@RichardTopchiy My bad, I forgot to mention that you need to leave File's Owner empty, and connect any outlets to view instead of file's owner. – pcz May 14 '19 at 13:04
same result with your second suggestion – Richard Topchii May 14 '19 at 13:08
This may or may not work... The answer from "Ben Patch" at this question (suggested duplicate) https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9282365/load-view-from-an-external-xib-file-in-storyboard is much, much more flexible and reliable. – DonMag May 14 '19 at 13:10
That one actually worked – Richard Topchii May 14 '19 at 14:06

Loading UIView from XIB using Storyboard - view's properties are nil

1 Answers1