NSDate keeps showing 2/12/1982 despite my efforts to override this

[elorc]

I've noticed this with a few projects actually. The first was a small project I was writing from scratch that incorporated a datepicker. I noticed that no matter what I tried to do, it would always show as 2/12/1982. I'd try to override it by using something like this:

NSDate *currentDate = [NSDate date];
[myDatePickerObj setValue:currentDate];

In place of setValue: I've also tried setDateValue: with the same results. No luck.

Also, in the Hillegass book's chapter 11 exercise, I saw the same behavior. In this particular example, he has the reader create a new class to override NSArrayController's newObject method.

CarArrayController.h
#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>

@interface CarArrayController : NSArrayController {
}

@end

CarArrayController.m
#import "CarArrayController.h"

@implementation CarArrayController

- (id)newObject
{
id newObj = [super newObject];
NSDate *now = [NSDate date];
[newObj setValue:now forKey:@"datePurchased"];

return newObj;
}

@end

When I run the application and create a new record, the datepicker still shows as 2/12/1982. Any ideas?

[elorc]

Ok I fixed the problem in the Hillegass example. I screwed up and didn't have the CanArrayController class set to the array controller I was using. I still can't figure out why the other code doesn't work. I'm putting it in my init override:

- (id)init
{
self = [super init];
userlist = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

// Set the date to today
NSDate *newDateVal = [NSDate date];
[myDatePicker setDateValue:newDateVal];
NSLog(@"The current date is %@", newDateVal);

return self;
}

[dantherevelator]

What happens if you comment out the message to myDatePicker?

[elorc]

What happens if you comment out the message to myDatePicker?

If I comment it out, I get a warning that says newDateVal is an unused variable. The debug console shows my NSLog line: "The current date is 2009-04-19 12:50:54 -0400"

[lucasgladding]

Try obtaining the dateValue from the NSDatePicker instance. I don't have Cocoa Programming in front of me, but I would guess that your outlet isn't set. When I have problems with setter methods, I usually try logging the result of the getter method first. That will tell you if the NIB has been loaded at that time and whether the connection has been made.

[JoshDC]

I'm fairly sure your problem is you're doing these initializations in the wrong place. If you're doing it how I think you are, when the init method is called datePicker isn't yet initialized itself, so the setValue: method is send to a null object. You can set a breakpoint and hover over datePicker to confirm this (it should be 0x0). Put interface initializations in the -(void)awakeFromNib method instead.