calling custom delegates not working - objective-c

Question

I have made a custom delegate:
Example.h:
#protocol DismissExamplePopoverDelegate
- (void) dismissExamplePopover;
- (int) getUserID;
#end
#interface Example : UIViewController{
id<DismissExamplePopoverDelegate> delegate;
}
#property (nonatomic, assign) id<DismissExamplePopoverDelegate> delegate;
It is called in Example.m like follows:
[[self delegate] getUserID];
In my maincontroller.h:
#import "Example.h"
#interface MainScreen : UIViewController<DismissExamplePopoverDelegate>
maincontroller.m:
-(int) getUserID
{
return 100;
}
the view Example is called by the following method:
ExampleController = [[Example alloc] initWithNibName:#"Example" bundle:nil];
ExamplePopoverController = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:ExampleController];
[ExampleController setDelegate:self];
ExamplePopoverController.popoverContentSize = CGSizeMake(600, 480);
if ([ExamplePopoverController isPopoverVisible]) {
[ExamplePopoverController dismissPopoverAnimated:YES];
} else {
CGRect popRect = CGRectMake((self.EditExampleSelectAddButtonProperty.frame.origin.x),
(self.EditExampleSelectAddButtonProperty.frame.origin.y),
(self.ExampleSelectAddButtonProperty.frame.size.width),
(self.ExampleSelectAddButtonProperty.frame.size.height));
[ExamplePopoverController presentPopoverFromRect:popRect inView:self.view permittedArrowDirections:UIPopoverArrowDirectionAny animated:YES];
}
If I place [[self delegate] getUserID] in any function other than viewdidload it works perfectly: returns 100; in viewdidload it returns 0.
What i want to achieve is a delegate to be called automatically when the popover loads. Is viewdidload the best place for it, or is there somewhere else

Answer 1

A couple of people have said this, but haven't been clear enough about the solution.
Instead of doing this:
ExampleController = [[Example alloc] initWithNibName:#"Example" bundle:nil];
ExamplePopoverController = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:ExampleController];
[ExampleController setDelegate:self];
Do this:
ExampleController = [[Example alloc] initWithNibName:#"Example" bundle:nil];
[ExampleController setDelegate:self];
ExamplePopoverController = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:ExampleController];
What's happening is that -[UIPopoverController initWithContentViewController:] uses its contentViewController's view, causing -[Example viewDidLoad] to be called. Since you haven't yet set the delegate at that point, the delegate is nil, and attempting to call any method on nil returns nil, 0, or 0.0.

Answer 2

Make sure you're actually assigning the delegate property to MainController. For instance, wherever you've initialized Example, you need to set the delegate property:
Example *example = [[Example alloc] init];
example.delegate = self; // Use this if you're initializing Example in MainController
If you're not initializing Example in MainController, instead of "self" use the MainController instance.

Answer 3

In Example.m you need to add line:
[self setDelegate:delegate];
Also, you need to #synthesize delegate;
Hope it help)