NSMutableArray resetting itself when WindowDidLoad is done - objective-c

Question

When I pass a NSMutableArray from a controller class to a NSWindowController class using #property and #synthesize I am able to use the objects of the array in the windowDidLoad method.
However, after the method is done and I click a button on the window triggerig an IBAction, the passed value is nil.
Can anyone explain me why this is happening and how I can preserve the NSMutableArray?
Here is the code:
passClass.h
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#class ResultWindowController;
#interface passClass : NSObject {
#private
IBOutlet NSTextField *searchField;
ResultWindowController *resultWindowController;
}
- (IBAction)passIt:(id)sender;
#end
passClass.m
#import "passClass.h"
#import "ResultWindowController.h"
#implementation passClass
- (IBAction)passIt:(id)sender {
NSString *searchString = searchField.stringValue;
NSMutableArray array = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
[array addObject:searchString];
[array addObject:searchString];
if(!resultWindowController) {
resultWindowController = [[ResultWindowController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:#"ResultWindow"];
resultWindowController.array =[[NSMutableArray alloc]initWithArray:array copyItems:YES];
[resultWindowController showWindow:self];
}
}
#end
ResultWindowController.h
#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
#interface ResultWindowController : NSWindowController <NSTableViewDataSource> {
IBOutlet NSTableView *resultView;
NSMutableArray *resultList;
//NSMutableArray *array;
}
- (IBAction)returnValue:(id)sender;
#property (nonatomic,strong) NSMutableArray *array;
#end
ResultWindowController.m
#import "Results.h"
#interface ResultWindowController ()
#end
#implementation ResultWindowController
//#synthesize array;
- (id)initWithWindow:(NSWindow *)window
{
self = [super initWithWindow:window];
if (self) {
// Initialization code here.
resultList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
return self;
}
- (void)windowDidLoad
{
[super windowDidLoad];
for (NSInteger i = 0; i< [array count];i++)
{
Results *result = [[Results alloc]init];
result.resultName = [self.array objectAtIndex:i];
[resultList addObject:result];
[resultView reloadData];
NSLog (#"self.array: %#", self.array);
// works fine, tableview gets populated, array is correct
}
}
- (NSInteger) numberOfRowsInTableView:(NSTableView *)resultView{
return [resultList count];
}
- (id)tableView:(NSTableView *)resultView objectValueForTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)resultColumn row:(NSInteger)row{
Results *result = [resultList objectAtIndex:row];
NSString *identifier = [resultColumn identifier];
return [result valueForKey:identifier];
}
- (IBAction)selectedSeries:(id)sender {
NSLog (#"self.array: %#", self.array);
//when I break here the array is nil
}
#end
Here is the NSLog result:
2013-12-26 10:36:49.487 MyProgram[545:303] self.array: (
"test",
"test"
)
2013-12-26 10:37:24.044 MyProgram[545:303] self.array: (null)

Answer 1

Try to remove NSMutableArray *array; from ResultWindowController class declaration and leave only the property declaration for it.
Or you could try initiating the array property in your ResultVWindowsContorller init class and in the - (IBAction)passIt:(id)sender just add objects to array.

Answer 2

I honestly can't see how this works at all unless, in -windowDidLoadNib you are expecting array to be empty.
When you synthesise a property, the default name of the instance variable that is used is prefixed by an underscore. Thus the class in your code has two instance variables, array and _array.
There are several ways to fix this. Here's what I think what you should do is delete the instance variable in your interface definition. Then you'll start getting compilation errors every for each time you use it. Fix them by using the property instead, so for example, the line
result.resultName = [array objectAtIndex:i];
in -windowDidLoadNib becomes
result.resultName = [self.array objectAtIndex:i];