EXC_BAD_ACCESS on custom UIView with custom XIB

Question

I'm developing an iOS 5+ app with latest SDK.

I have created a custom UIView (TopMenuView) with a custom XIB. On Interface Builder I have changed, on this XIB, UIView class to TopMenuView. I haven't set any File's Owner.

On TopMenuView.m I have:

- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder
{
    self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder];

    if (self)
    {
        NSLog(@"init with coder: %d", counter);
        counter++;
        // Add custom XIB
        NSArray *topMenuView = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"TopMenuView"
                                                             owner:nil
                                                           options:nil];
        UIView *nv = [topMenuView objectAtIndex:0];

        [self addSubview:nv];
    }

    return self;
}

Using Interface Builder I have added a UIView to a UIViewController and changed this UIView class to TopMenuView.

But, when I run the app, I get this log message 4251 times: 2013-10-13 20:49:34.078 MyProject[470:c07] init with coder: 0

And then, I get an EXC_BAD_ACCESS here:

NSArray *topMenuView = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"TopMenuView"
                                                             owner:nil
                                                           options:nil];

Answer 1

The reason it's calling the initWithCoder so many times is due to wrong class setup in your .xib file.

Make sure the Custom Class on the File's Owner is your custom UIView class:

And make sure the class on the root View is the default UIView:

And now this is all you need in your custom class (in Swift):

required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    super.init(coder: aDecoder)

    let view = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("TopMenuView", owner: self, options: nil)[0] as! UIView
    self.addSubview(view)
    view.frame = self.bounds
}

Answer 2

You are most likely getting into an infinite loop because you're recursively calling initWithCoder. One workaround is to check if your subclass has any subviews first.

-(id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder {
    self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder];
    if (self) {
        if (self.subviews.count == 0) {
            NSArray *topMenuView = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"TopMenuView" owner:nil options:nil];
            UIView *nv = [topMenuView objectAtIndex:0];
            [self addSubview:self.view];
        }
    }
    return self;
}

Answer 3

This is how I did it:

//Add Custom View to my main view of viewcontroller
self.customNavView = [[CustomNavigationView alloc] init];
self.customNavView = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"CustomNavigationView" owner:self options:nil] objectAtIndex:0];
[self.customNavView setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 20, 320, 54)];
[self.view addSubview:self.customNavView];    

Here CustomNavigationView is a UIView subclass with Files Owner Class as UIView and the UIView custom class as CustomNavigationView.

This works for me.

Answer 4

Your - (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder is called whenever TopMenuView is created by loading your xib.

Thus you are recursively calling your initWithCoder:

---

Comment all your method - (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder

and where you want to use TopMenuView probably in some controller use the below code

NSArray *topMenuView = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"TopMenuView" owner:nil options:nil];
UIView *nv = [topMenuView objectAtIndex:0];

Answer 5

I was getting the same error until I redid how I loaded the xib file from the storyboard. Basically it involved making an @IBOutlet from the xib file's root view to the code. Also make sure that you set the File's Owner of the xib to your custom class.

import UIKit
class ResuableCustomView: UIView {

    @IBOutlet var view: UIView!
    @IBOutlet weak var label: UILabel!

    @IBAction func buttonTap(sender: UIButton) {
        label.text = "Hi"
    }

    required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)

        NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("ReusableCustomView", owner: self, options: nil)[0] as! UIView
        self.addSubview(view)
        view.frame = self.bounds
    }
}

My full answer for setting up this project is here.