How to make custom init methods for a UIView

main.m

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import "MyView.h"

int main(void)
{
    NSAutoreleasePool *pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

    Person *p = [[Person alloc] init];

    //You could do this:
    // know that you now much seperate initialization code into viewWillApear
    // and viewDidLoad so that things don't happen before you assign the person
    // to it. (easy to create errors.
    MyView *view1 = [[MyView alloc] initWithNibName:@"MyViewNibFile" bundle:nil];
    view1.myPerson = p;
    // Display view1.

    // A better way with hard coded name:
    MyView *view2 = [[MyView alloc] initWithPerson:p];
    // Display view2.

    // Probubly the best way:
    MyView *view3 = [[MyView alloc] initWithPerson:p andNibName:@"MyViewNibFile"
        bundle:nil];
    // Display view3.

    [view3 release];
    [view2 release];
    [view1 release];
    [p release];

    [pool release];
    return 0;
}

MyView.h

// MyView.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "Person.h"

@interface MyView : UIView {
    Person *myPerson;
}

// Setup a property so we can programatically set the data for this view
@property (nonatomic, retain) Person *myPerson;

// Custom init method
- (id)initWithPerson:(Person *)person;

// A different way to do a custom init
- (id)initWithPerson:(Person *)person andNibName:(NSString *)nib
    bundle:(NSBundle *)bundle;

@end

MyView.m

// MyView.m

#import "MyView.h"

@implementation MyView

@synthesize myPerson;

// This way hard codes the nib file name in the code. Probubly bad but in some
// cases could be good.
- (id)initWithPerson:(Person *)person;
{
    if ((self = [super initWithNibName:@"MyViewNibFile" bundle:nil]) == nil)
        return nil;

    self.myPerson = person;

    return self;
}

// This is more what might work for you.
- (id)initWithPerson:(Person *)person andNibName:(NSString *)nib
    bundle:(NSBundle *)bundle;
{
    if ((self = [super initWithNibName:nib bundle:bundle]) == nil)
        return nil;

    self.myPerson = person;

    return self;
}

- (void)dealloc;
{
    [myPerson release];

    [super dealloc];
}

@end