How to set target and action for UIBarButtonItem at runtime

Question

Tried this but only works for UIButton:

[btn setTarget:self action:@selector(btnClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

Solution 1

Just set the UIBarButtonItem's target and action properties directly.

Solution 2

UIBarButtonItem doesnt have the same addTarget method so you have to set them directly as follows

btn.target = self;
btn.action = @selector(barButtonCustomPressed:);

...

// can specify UIBarButtonItem instead of id for this case
-(IBAction)barButtonCustomPressed:(UIBarButtonItem*)btn 
{
    NSLog(@"button tapped %@", btn.title);
}

Solution 3

Set target and action of your UIBarButtonItem

Swift 5 & 4

button.target = self
button.action = #selector(action)

@objc func action (sender:UIButton) {
    print("action")
}

Solution 4

I ran into a similar problem... I assume you mean that if your UIButton is not part of your UITabBar to call btnClicked then it works appropriately. If this is the problem you are proposing then, check your btnClicked method and change it from:

-btnClicked:(id)sender

to

-(void) btnClicked:(id)sender

that, and declare btnClicked in the header file...

For what it's worth, this is how I setup a button in tabbarbuttonitem:

UIBarButtonItem *exampleButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(btnClicked:)];

Solution 5

If you need this enough times in your code, it's nice to go ahead and extend UIBarButtonItem which I've done below in Swift. :)

import UIKit

extension UIBarButtonItem {
    func addTargetForAction(target: AnyObject, action: Selector) {
        self.target = target
        self.action = action
    }
}

As an example, with self as a UIViewController, you'd simply call:

self.myBarButtonItem.addTargetForAction(self, action: #selector(buttonPressed(_:))

View more solutions

Comments

[J. Dave]

additionally, you can take out the ":" making ...:@selector(btnClicked:)]; into ...:@selector(btnClicked)];

[Shaggy Frog]

N.B. This only works if the UIBarButtonItem doesn't use a custom view, like a UIButton

[Jarrod]

For custom views, use: [button addTarget:self action:@selector(buttonPressed) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

[Mike]

There is no addTarget method for UIBarButtonItem.

[katzenhut]

That methohd does not exist, check the docs please: developer.apple.com/library/IOs/documentation/UIKit/Referenc‌​e/… What you are thinking of is a UIButton

[Eichhörnchen]

Thank you!! this is exactly what i needed to implement my custom UIBarButtonItem class

[mikebz]

great answer, especially if you want to create the buttons at design time!

[Unome]

Can you please give an example of what those should be set to? The target says it takes an AnyObject? Should that be set to a UIGestureRecognizer?

[zmonteca]

assuming btn is a UIBarButtonItem, [btn setTarget:self]; [btn setAction:@selector(btnClicked:)] or DOT notation btn.target = self; btn.action = @selector(btnClicked:); Both should work as @Ole-Begemann is describing.

[Admin]

@zmonteca hey, does it still work (6 years later)? how can I set a target and action to a UITabBarItem today?

[zmonteca]

@wp42 Should still work. This was just used last year on my end.

[matt.writes.code]

Per the documentation this doesn't work on an instance that has been initialized with a custom view. "The bar button item created by this method does not call the action method of its target in response to user interactions. Instead, the bar button item expects the specified custom view to handle any user interactions and provide an appropriate response." See apple.co/2egXdmR for reference

[Yodagama]

This only works if the UIBarButtonItem doesn't use a custom view.

[Yodagama]

This only works if the UIBarButtonItem doesn't use a custom view

[Ximena Flores de la Tijera]

Did you figure out what worked if you used a custom view?