Cannot get UIButton to programmatically call action in iOS - ios

Question

I cannot get my button to fire the associated method. I am not using IB or anything like that (all programmatic). The _mainViewController is passed in during custom init, just to clarify (although this should have nothing to do with the button). Please see my code snips:
viewcontroller.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface CSNWZSSViewController : UIViewController
- (void)doneButtonPressed;
#property UIViewController *mainViewController;
#property UIButton *doneButton;
#end
viewcontroller.m
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
UIView *headerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, _mainViewController.view.frame.size.width, 45)];
headerView.backgroundColor = [UIColor darkGrayColor];
_doneButton = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(_mainViewController.view.frame.size.width - 100, 0, 100, headerView.frame.size.height)];
[_doneButton addTarget:self
action:#selector(doneButtonPressed)
forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[_doneButton setTitle:#"Done" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
_doneButton.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
_doneButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:.77 blue:0 alpha:1];
[headerView addSubview:_doneButton];
CGRect headerLabelFrame = CGRectMake(5, 5, headerView.frame.size.width - 105, headerView.frame.size.height - 5);
UILabel *headerLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:headerLabelFrame];
headerLabel.text = #"test header";
headerLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
headerLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
headerLabel.font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:20.0f];
headerLabel.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakByTruncatingTail;
[headerView addSubview:headerLabel];
[self.view addSubview:headerView];
}
- (void)doneButtonPressed
{
NSLog(#"button pressed");
}
Update 10/9/16 using buttonWithType init and explicit userInteractionEnabled
_doneButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[_doneButton addTarget:self
action:#selector(doneButtonPressed)
forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[_doneButton setTitle:#"Done" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
_doneButton.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
_doneButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor]; //[UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:.77 blue:0 alpha:1];
_doneButton.frame = CGRectMake(_mainViewController.view.frame.size.width - 100, 0, 100, headerView.frame.size.height);
_doneButton.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
[headerView addSubview:_doneButton];
Note 12/9/16 the _mainViewController object is passed in here:
CSNWZSSViewController *CSNWZSSVC = [[CSNWZSSViewController alloc] initWithRichTextString:source withTitleString:title forViewController:self.viewController];
[self.viewController.view addSubview:CSNWZSSVC.view];
Solution with matt's help (see below) The context was getting messed up due to the lack of adding the new view controller.
CSNWZSSViewController *CSNWZSSVC = [[CSNWZSSViewController alloc] initWithRichTextString:source withTitleString:title forViewController:self.viewController];
[self.viewController addChildViewController:CSNWZSSVC];
[self.viewController.view addSubview:CSNWZSSVC.view];

Answer 1

The _mainViewController is passed in during custom init
I'm going to guess that this is the problem — that you are mismanaging this view controller and that it is not being correctly made part of the view controller hierarchy, and in fact may even be going out of existence so that there is no one to send the button action message to.
edit Yes, now that you've posted more code, I'm clearly right:
CSNWZSSViewController *CSNWZSSVC = [[CSNWZSSViewController alloc] initWithRichTextString:source withTitleString:title forViewController:self.viewController];
[self.viewController.view addSubview:CSNWZSSVC.view];
That is totally wrong behavior. You cannot arbitrarily add another view controller's view to yours. There is a strict dance for managing a child view controller, and you are not doing the dance.

Answer 2

Try:
UIButton *theButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
And then set your frame.