How do the click events on UIBarButton - ios

Question

As UIBarButton is not inherited from UIResponder/UIControl, how do the click events on UIBarButton work?

Answer 1

Just create the UIBarButtonItem's target and action properties directly.
UIBarButtonItem *barListBtn = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"yourTitle"
style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain
target:self action:#selector(btnClicked:)];
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = barListBtn;
-(void)btnClicked:(UIBarButtonItem*)btn
{
NSLog(#"button tapped %#", btn.title);
}
Choice-2
- (void) viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// first we create a button and set it's properties
UIBarButtonItem *myButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc]init];
myButton.action = #selector(doTheThing);
myButton.title = #"Hello";
myButton.target = self;
// then we add the button to the navigation bar
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = myButton;
}
// method called via selector
- (void) doTheThing {
NSLog(#"Doing the thing");
}
some additional Sample

Answer 2

UIBarItem is an abstract superclass for items added to a bar that appears at the bottom of the screen. Items on a bar behave in a way similar to buttons (instances of UIButton). They have a title, image, action, and target. You can also enable and disable an item on a bar.
For more details checkout the link mentioned below:
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UIKit/Reference/UIBarItem_Class/index.html#//apple_ref/occ/cl/UIBarItem
Swift:
Add the below line in viewDidLoad
self.navigationItem.setRightBarButtonItem(UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Search, target: self, action: "barButtonItemClicked:"), animated: true)
Function:
func barButtonItemClicked()
{
print("Bar button clicked")
}