My NSString is determined to equal null, infuriating - objective-c

Question

This has been bugging me all night, It doesn't make any sense. This function returns whatever it's supposed to. EG, the issueName.
-(id)initWithIssue:(NSString *)string {
self = [super initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil];
if (self) {
NSString *thing = string;
issueName = [[NSString alloc]initWithString:thing];
NSLog(#"The issue name = %#", issueName);
}
return self;
}
However if I try to access 'issueName' in the viewDidLoad: nothing, it's equal to null no matter what I do. I've tried cleaning, setting a custom setter, switching between a property or a Ivar... ect. What's so infuriating is that this string just disappears at this point in the programe.
What the hell is going on, this is infuriating.
Edit
This the the entire code that is relevant. And how I started off.
Dot h file:
#interface BFPaidAreaViewController : UITabBarController <BFNewsTableViewControllerDelegate> {
NSString *issueName;
}
-(id)initWithIssue:(NSString *)string;
Dot m file:
-(id)initWithIssue:(NSString *)string {
self = [super init];
if (self) {
// PLPiper I had it that way before, because I was fiddling out of frustration
issueName = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:string];
NSLog(#"This is Called, the issue name is equal to = %#", issueName);
}
return self;
}
-(void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
NSLog(#"The issue = %#", issueName);
}
I'm calling the view controller like so:
BFPaidAreaViewController *pavc = [[BFPaidAreaViewController alloc]initWithIssue:#"test"];
This will log:
This is Called, the issue name is equal to = test
The issue = (null)
New Edit
Found the problem. It's a UITableViewController. Strange, when I change it's class to a UIViewController it works. Is this a bug or just normal behaviour? But more pressing, how to I get round this limitation?
(Just to explain what I've done UI wise, the UITabBarController is in a modal View. This works fine with a UIViewController.)
God Awful Fix
-(id)initWithIssue:(NSString *)string {
self = [super initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil];
if (self) {
NSString *thing = string;
issueName = [[NSString alloc]initWithString:thing];
NSLog(#"The issue name = %#", issueName);
}
[self viewDidLoad];
return self;
}
Makes me feel dirty. But it will have to do for now, I can continue. If anyone can think of a solution please tell. Sorry about my feistiness, it was incredibly frustrating listening to people say, 'what the hell is this?? what is issueName?? an ivar??' when it was really implicit in the question.

Answer 1

Okay, first of all, replace:
self = [super initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil]; // Unneeded nil arguments
with:
self = [super init]; // Equivalent method, less processing involved.
Secondly, replace:
NSString *thing = string;
issueName = [[NSString alloc]initWithString:thing];
with just:
_issueName = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:string];
If issueName is a property (and you haven't #sythesized it to anything else) its representation should be _issueName.
The above fixes are more or less just make the code more succinct. The issue is probably with the code in viewDidLoad: (See below).
Now you can initialise your Issue object, and use the following code to display the issue name:
// Init:
Issue *myIssue = [[Issue alloc] initWithIssue:#"Example Issue"];
// Log:
NSLog(#"%#", myIssue.issueName);
And the log should show:
Example Issue

Answer 2

can you try this:
make the issueName a property, like
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *issueName;
then use it like this,
-(id)initWithIssue:(NSString *)string {
self = [super initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil];
if (self) {
NSLog(#"The string = %#", string);
self.issueName = string;
NSLog(#"The issue name = %#", issueName);
}
return self;
}
if you are using the automated synthetized property (i.e not declaring the #synthentize manually for the issueName), then your iVar will be called _issueName instead of issueName
what do you get from the above code ?

Answer 3

I find this somewhat curious. You call [super initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil]. This leads me to believe that this might be a subclass of NSViewController. If you init an NSViewController like this, barring some other, pretty non-standard stuff, -viewDidLoad probably won't get called because there's no NIB to be loaded (because you passed nil to super). But clearly you're setting a breakpoint in -viewDidLoad so it's getting called (on something). This makes me think that you have this class specified in a XIB somewhere as a File's Owner or as a NIB-loaded custom object. If that's the case, it leads me to believe that the instance you're init-ing and the instance on which -viewDidLoad is being called aren't the same instance. You can confirm this for yourself by putting NSLog(#"self: %p", self); in each method and seeing whether they are the same or different.
If the instance that is getting a call to -viewDidLoad is NIB-loaded, then your init method won't be called. Instead it will use -initWithCoder
If you can elaborate on the situation here (i.e. how this is getting instantiated, are there any XIBs involved, etc), I will edit my answer to provide more help, but I don't think there's enough information here to be truly helpful.
I feel your frustration. Assuming standard behavior, any of the suggestions here should have worked. This only reinforces my suspicion that these are not the same instance (between -initWithIssue and -viewDidLoad.