How to create an action for a UITabBarItem?

Question

I have created a UITabBar and UITabBarItems without UITabBarController on it, now i want to know how to place an action on click of the UITabBarItem.What is the method i should use for action on UITabBarItem?

According to the Human Interface Guidelines, tab bars are for switching views. Are you sure you don't want to use a tool bar? — Frank Schmitt, Mar 26 '10 at 00:24

score 23 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 26 '10 at 00:20

23

You can't set an action on a UITabBarItem object directly. Instead, your view controller should implement the following UITabBarDelegate method:

- (void)tabBar:(UITabBar *)tabBar didSelectItem:(UITabBarItem *)item;

This method is called when the user selects a tab (i.e. UITabBarItem).

answered Mar 26 '10 at 00:20

Shaggy Frog

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this worked for me but remember to set the tabbar's delegate to 'self' in viewdidload() – crackles Jun 29 '17 at 07:56

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 25 '10 at 06:20

Are you using a UINavigationController? If so, from the active view controller subclass you get the navigationItem and add the buttons to it, e.g.:

- (void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated;
{
    [super viewWillAppear: animated];
    UIBarButtonItem * leftButtonItem = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle: @"Don't Show Again" style: UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target: self action: @selector(permanentlyCloseWelcomeView)] autorelease];
    [[self navigationItem] setLeftBarButtonItem: leftButtonItem];
}

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 12 '10 at 17:34

Can you get away with using instances of UIToolbar and UIBarButtonItem instead? It could be more straightforward.

toolBar = [[UIToolbar alloc] init];
newPlayerItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:@"+"
                                    style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered
                                    target:self
                                    action:@selector(newPlayer:)];

NSArray *toolBarItemsArray = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:newPlayerItem, nil];
[toolBar setItems:toolBarItemsArray];
[toolBarItemsArray release];

score -2 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 31 '12 at 02:07

-2

There is a better method than didSelectItem: for each TabBarItem you create an action: [item1 setAction:@selector(pressItem1:)]; [item2 setAction:@selector(pressItem2:)]; [item3 setAction:@selector(pressItem3:)]; [item4 setAction:@selector(pressItem4:)]; and then you can use the new actions:

-(void)pressItem1:(UITabBarItem *) item1 {<br/>
    // Here comes your code which<br/>
    // occurs after pressing item1.<br/>
}

That works for me

edited Dec 31 '12 at 02:07

Andy Obusek

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answered Jun 14 '10 at 18:46

wesimaster

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you're using a private API. Apple won't approve it – user102008 Apr 23 '11 at 07:10
Seems like yes. Ita an private API. – Dilshan Aug 26 '12 at 10:34

How to create an action for a UITabBarItem?

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