cellForRowAtIndexPath returns null but really need similar method - objective-c

Question

I have a UITableView in my UITableViewController (lol, obviously) but I need to get a cell at a given index inside the - (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated method.
Now, my cells are static and I create them in the interface builder. If I call
UITableViewCell *cell = [self.tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:previously_selected_cell.integerValue inSection:0]];
it returns null for the cell. I only have 3 static cells in 1 sections. I tried both sections 0 and 1 and both return null.
Currently I have removed the - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath method because if I add it, it will clear the UITableView of all my static cells.
Is there a method I can call in - (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated that will return a cell at a given index?
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: I checked out this stackoverflow question but I'm using static cells without cellForRowAtIndexPath so that question didn't help. :(
EDIT2: I'm trying to set the accessory type of the cell when the view loads. But only on a certain cell, that cell being the one the user selected before he quit the app.
#import "AutoSyncSettings.h"
#import "CDFetchController.h"
#implementation AutoSyncSettings
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
}
#pragma mark - View lifecycle
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
}
- (void)viewDidUnload
{
[super viewDidUnload];
// Release any retained subviews of the main view.
// e.g. self.myOutlet = nil;
}
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
CDFetchController *cdfc = [[CDFetchController alloc] init];
NSFetchedResultsController *results = [cdfc getFetchedResultsControllerWithEntityName:#"SETTINGS"];
NSArray *objects = [results fetchedObjects];
NSNumber *sync_setting;
if(objects.count > 0)
{
NSManagedObject *object = [objects objectAtIndex:0];
sync_setting = [object valueForKey:#"wifi_setting"];
NSLog(#"(Settings)sync_setting: %#",sync_setting);
NSLog(#"(Settings)sync_setting int value: %i",sync_setting.integerValue);
NSLog(#"(Settings)TableView: %#",self.tableView);
//cell is null, even after this.
UITableViewCell *cell = [self.tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:wifi_settings.integerValue inSection:0]];
cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryCheckmark;
//cell is still null. WHY OH WHY? :(
objects = nil;
}
cdfc = nil;
results = nil;
objects = nil;
sync_setting = nil;
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
}
- (void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
[super viewDidAppear:animated];
}
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated
{
[super viewWillDisappear:animated];
}
- (void)viewDidDisappear:(BOOL)animated
{
[super viewDidDisappear:animated];
}
- (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation
{
// Return YES for supported orientations
return (interfaceOrientation == UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait);
}
#pragma mark - Table view data source
- (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canEditRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
return NO;
}
- (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canMoveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
return NO;
}
#pragma mark - Table view delegate
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
for (int i = 0; i < [tableView numberOfRowsInSection:indexPath.section]; i++)
{
if([[tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:i inSection:indexPath.section]] accessoryType] == UITableViewCellAccessoryCheckmark)
{
[tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:i inSection:indexPath.section]].accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryNone;
}
}
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:indexPath];
cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryCheckmark;
CDFetchController *cdfc = [[CDFetchController alloc] init];
NSFetchedResultsController *results = [cdfc getFetchedResultsControllerWithEntityName:#"SETTINGS"];
NSManagedObjectContext *context = [results managedObjectContext];
NSArray *objects = [results fetchedObjects];
if(objects.count > 0)
{
NSManagedObject *object = [objects objectAtIndex:0];
NSNumber *sync_setting = [NSNumber numberWithInt:indexPath.row];
[object setValue:sync_setting forKey:#"sync_interval"];
[object setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:0] forKey:#"id"];
[ErrorHandler saveMoc:context];
}
else
{
//INSERT NEW OBJECT
NSManagedObject *object = [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:#"SETTINGS" inManagedObjectContext:context];
NSNumber *sync_setting = [NSNumber numberWithInt:indexPath.row];
[object setValue:sync_setting forKey:#"sync_interval"];
[object setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:0] forKey:#"id"];
[ErrorHandler saveMoc:context];
}
}
#end

Answer 1

I have a project doing exactly this and it works perfectly. However, it doesn't work unless you call [super viewWillAppear:animated] before trying to access the cells in this manner.
The base implementation presumably loads in the cells from the storyboard.

Answer 2

I want to add a checkmark accessory to the previously selected cell,
the previously_selected_cell variable gets stored even if the app
quits/crashes
The way to go will be to control the indexPath in your cellForRowAtIndexPath implementation and act if it's equal to previously_selected_cell.integerValue:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// usual cache lookup, allocation of the cell, etc
if (indexPath.row == previously_selected_cell.integerValue) {
// add checkbox here
} else {
// remove checkbox
}
}