UIBarButtonItem with UIButton as custom view doesn't show up - ios

Question

I am trying to display a custom UIButton as a UINavigationItem's rightBarButtonItem.
I wrote the following code:
UIButton *inviteButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[inviteButton setTitle:#"Invite" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
inviteButton.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 30, 30);
inviteButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
inviteButton.layer.borderColor = [UIColor blueColor].CGColor;
inviteButton.layer.borderWidth = 1.0f;
UIBarButtonItem *inviteButtonContainer = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:inviteButton];
viewController.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = inviteButtonContainer;
Nothing shows up in my navigation bar.
However, with the following code, I can see a basic button:
UIBarButtonItem *inviteButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Invite"
style:UIBarButtonItemStyleDone
target:self
action:nil];
viewController.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = inviteButton;
But it's obviously not what I am after, since I am looking to play with the button appearance.
Edit
I was trying to add the same instance of UIBarButtonItem (inviteButtonContainer) to many navigation bars. Doing that, it's visible on the last navigation bar only.
However, if I use the same instance of a simple UIBarButtonItem (without custom view), it's displayed on every navigation bars. Any idea why?

Answer 1

Your code is fine, just change this line:
viewController.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = inviteButtonContainer;
to
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = inviteButtonContainer;
From the Documentation:
The navigation item used to represent the view controller in a
parent's navigation bar.
self itself represents that it belongs to view controller , so there is no need to mention the view controller instance to add the navigation item.

Answer 2

-> To display custom button in a view controller in which custom bar button is crated (i.e. in self) :
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
UIButton *inviteButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[inviteButton setTitle:#"Invite" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
inviteButton.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 70, 30);
inviteButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
inviteButton.layer.borderColor = [UIColor blueColor].CGColor;
inviteButton.layer.borderWidth = 1.0f;
UIBarButtonItem *inviteButtonContainer = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:inviteButton];
controller.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = inviteButtonContainer;
}
-> To display custom bar button in a view controller that is about to present
eg. To display a view controller after a cell is selected in table view
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
DjDetailsViewController *controller = (DjDetailsViewController *)
[self.storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"DjDetailsViewController"];
UIButton *inviteButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[inviteButton setTitle:#"Invite" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
inviteButton.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 70, 30);
inviteButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
inviteButton.layer.borderColor = [UIColor blueColor].CGColor;
inviteButton.layer.borderWidth = 1.0f;
UIBarButtonItem *inviteButtonContainer = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:inviteButton];
controller.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = inviteButtonContainer;
[self.navigationController pushViewController:controller animated:YES];
}
I didn’t done major. I just used your code and change frame of custom bar button.
I hope this will help you.

Answer 3

You issue is with your invite button initialiser:
UIButton *inviteButton = [UIButton UIButtonTypeCustom];
UIButtonTypeCustom is an enum value not a class method/convenience constructor.
use
UIButton *inviteButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
Hope this helps