@property not getting set with new value

Question

I'm building an iphone app that uses table views contained within UIViewControllers pushed onto a UINavigation controller (very similar to the Contacts app). When you touch a particular table cell it pushes a new view controller onto the navigation controller to allow you to select a value from a table view list. When you select and touch "save" it pops that view off the stack and moves you back to the first view, where the original table view should show the value you selected.

The problem is that I'm storing the selected value in a @property located in the first view controller, and it doesn't seem to be getting the value that is selected. This is happening in the "setDiff" method. I can log it out and it seems to have been set, but the it's not set when the view renders after the property has been changed.

This is the code for the first view controller (where the selected value from the second view controller will be displayed after it is selected).

/**
 *
 * ManageWorkoutViewController
 *
 **/
@class ManageWODiffController;

@interface ManageWorkoutViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource> {

    IBOutlet ManageWODiffController *workoutDifficultyController;
    IBOutlet UITableView *woTableView;
    IBOutlet UITableViewCell *workoutCommentsCell;
    IBOutlet UITableViewCell *workoutDifficultyCell;
    IBOutlet UITableViewCell *workoutDateCell;
    NSString *workoutDifficulty;
    NSString *workoutDate;
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) UITableView *woTableView;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *workoutDifficulty;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *workoutDate;

-(void)setupWorkoutAddEdit;
-(void)setDiff:(NSString *)value;

@end



#import "ManageWorkoutViewController.h"
@implementation ManageWorkoutViewController

@synthesize woTableView;
@synthesize workoutDifficulty;
@synthesize workoutDate;


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

    UITableViewCell *cell;

    if (indexPath.row == 0) {

        //workout comments
        cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"workoutCommentsCell"];
        if (nil == cell) { 
            cell = workoutCommentsCell;
            cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellStyleValue1;
        }

    }else if (indexPath.row == 1) {

        //difficulty
        cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"workoutDifficultyCell"];
        if (nil == cell) { 
            cell = workoutDifficultyCell;
            cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellStyleValue1;
            cell.textLabel.text = self.workoutDifficulty;
        }

    }else if (indexPath.row == 2) {

        //workoutDate
        cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"workoutDateCell"];
        if (nil == cell) { 
            cell = workoutDateCell;
            cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellStyleValue1;
            cell.textLabel.text = self.workoutDate;
        }

    }//end if-else


    return cell;

}//end cellForRowAtIndexPath


- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tv numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {

    return 3;

}//end numberOfRowsInSection


-(void)setDiff:(NSString *)value{

    self.workoutDifficulty = value;
    [woTableView reloadData];
    NSLog(@"setter: workoutDifficulty set as: %@", self.workoutDifficulty);

}//end setDiff


-(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {


    switch (indexPath.row) {

        case 0:
            //do nothing no nav-view here
            break;

        //DIFFICULTY
        case 1:
            workoutDifficultyController.title = @"Workout Difficulty";
            workoutDifficultyController.originalDifficulty = self.workoutDifficulty;//set the selected difficulty string
            [tableView deselectRowAtIndexPath:indexPath animated:YES];
            [(UINavigationController *)self.parentViewController pushViewController:workoutDifficultyController 
                                                                           animated:YES];
            break;

        case 2:
            workoutDateController.title = @"Workout Date";
            [tableView deselectRowAtIndexPath:indexPath animated:YES];
            [(UINavigationController *)self.parentViewController pushViewController:workoutDateController 
                                                                           animated:YES];
            break;


        default:
            break;

    }//end switch



}//end didSelectRowAtIndexPath


- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {

    //setup the UI to add / edit the workout
    [self setupWorkoutAddEdit];

    [super viewWillAppear:animated];

}//end viewWillAppear


-(void)setupWorkoutAddEdit{

    //load the difficulty 
    if (nil == self.workoutDifficulty) {


        switch ([[workout retrieveValueForKey:@"workoutDifficultyId"] intValue]) {
            case 0:
                self.workoutDifficulty = @"Easy";
                break;
            case 1:
                self.workoutDifficulty = @"Medium";
                break;
            case 2: 
                self.workoutDifficulty = @"Hard";
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }

    }//end if nil


    NSLog(@"workoutDifficulty is: %@", self.workoutDifficulty);

}//end setupWorkoutAddEdit

@end

Here is the code for the ManageWODiffController (where a value is selected from a table view and saved).

/**
 *
 * ManageWODiffController
 *
 **/

@class ManageWorkoutViewController;

@interface ManageWODiffController : UIViewController <UITableViewDelegate> {
    IBOutlet UITableView *tableView;
    IBOutlet UITableViewCell *checkCell;
    NSString *selectedDifficulty;
    NSString *originalDifficulty;
    IBOutlet ManageWorkoutViewController *manageWorkoutController;
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) UITableView *tableView;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *selectedDifficulty;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *originalDifficulty;

-(IBAction)cancelDifficulty:(id)sender;
-(IBAction)saveDifficulty:(id)sender;

@end



#import "ManageWODiffController.h"
#import "ManageWorkoutViewController.h"


@implementation ManageWODiffController

@synthesize tableView;
@synthesize selectedDifficulty;
@synthesize originalDifficulty;


-(IBAction)saveDifficulty:(id)sender {

    NSLog(@"[ManageWODiffController.saveDifficulty] returning: %@", self.selectedDifficulty);

    [manageWorkoutController setDiff: self.selectedDifficulty];

    [(UINavigationController *)self.parentViewController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];

}//end saveDifficulty


-(IBAction)cancelDifficulty:(id)sender { /*...*/ }


- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tv cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { /*...*/ }


- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tv numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { /*...*/ }


 @end

Answer 1

Approach with context object: In your 1st controller, the ManageWorkoutViewController, invent an context object

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableDictonary *workout;

In the table cell where the difficulty is shown it should be picked from

[workout objectForKey:@"Difficulty"];

Do the same in the second controller (ManageWODiffController).

Then in the first one you go like this

//DIFFICULTY
    case 1:
       ManageWODiffController *diffController = [[ManageWODiffController alloc]        initWithNibName:@"ManageWODiffController" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];
       diffController.workout = workout;
       [[self navigationController] setNavigationBarHidden:NO animated:NO]; 
       [self.navigationController pushViewController:diffController animated:YES];
       [diffController release];
       diffController = nil; 
          break;

In the second controller it should be like

-(IBAction)saveDifficulty:(id)sender
{
    [workout setObject: selectDifficulty forKey:@"Difficulty"];
}

Then after putting the difficulty in the workout context pop the second controller.

[[self navigationController] popViewControllerAnimated:YES];

If you do so a

[self.tableView reloadData];

in the first controller should be enough to make things work

Answer 2

How about this...

...
//difficulty
cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"workoutDifficultyCell"];
if (nil == cell) { 
    cell = workoutDifficultyCell;
    cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellStyleValue1;
}
cell.textLabel.text = self.workoutDifficulty;
...

Answer 3

You should try to add [self.tableView reloadData] to your viewWillAppear (between the two other statements) in the first controller.