LeftBarButtonItem with two buttons. One Button doesnt respond to tap - ios

Question

So I have two buttons in the leftBarButtonItem. This is my code.
NSString *todayString = #"...";
UIBarButtonItem *todayButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:todayString style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self.calendarController action:#selector(todaySelected)] autorelease];
NSString *weeklyString = #"...";
UIBarButtonItem *weeklyButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:weeklyString style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:#selector(weekSelected)] autorelease];
UIToolbar *toolbar = [[[UIToolbar alloc] init] autorelease];
[toolbar setItems:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:todayButton, weeklyButton, nil]];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:toolbar] autorelease];
The title of the buttons is dynamic. Sometimes the titles can get somewhat long. The buttons expand and look fine. However, if the titles get too long, it seems that the UIToolbar reaches some width maximum, as the buttons stop responding to taps at a certain X point. See image here
Green represents responds to touch and red does not respond to touch. The Today button responds to touch. The Weekly button, however, only responds to touch until the second "e". Anything after that does not respond to touch.
I've been banging my head trying to fix this for a while, with no luck. I tried expanding the frame of both the UIToolbar and the leftBarButtonItem. Anyone know whats going on? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Your toolbar frame width is probably too narrow. In your code, you don't even set its size, and rely on it to be sized it for you. Trying setting it to larger width, and make sure the autoresizingMask does not have `UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth' set.
A good debugging technique is to set the background color of your new toolbar to something bright (to contrast against the toolbar you are installing it into) and watch its sizing to see how your button is being clipped interaction-wise.
You may need to explicitly resize it as you update the bar button item titles if fixing it to a certain width is too restrictive for your app.

Answer 2

You'll need to make a custom button view that is actionable, with something like a UIButton:
UIButton *newButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeRoundedRect];
[newButton addTarget:self action:#selector(newAction:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[newButton setTitle:#"New Button" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
UIBarButtonItem *newBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:newButton];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = newBarButtonItem;
for example.
EDIT - now I see what you are doing, I apologize for the earlier confusion. You are adding an array of buttons to the left side. Try adjusting the frame of the toolbar with so the buttons fit inside the interactive area:
NSString *todayString = #"...";
UIBarButtonItem *todayButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:todayString style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:nil];
NSString *weeklyString = #"...";
UIBarButtonItem *weeklyButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:weeklyString style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:nil];
UIToolbar *toolbar = [[UIToolbar alloc] init];
[toolbar setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 50)];
[toolbar setItems:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:todayButton, weeklyButton, nil]];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:toolbar];

Answer 3

I know this is an old question, but it led me astray for a bit until I found updated information. I could not use the technique mentioned above in iOS 7 because the embedded toolbar would not line up with its parent.
Anyhow, iOS 5 (I believe) added button arrays for the left and right items:
UIBarButtonItem * trashItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemTrash target:self action:#selector(onTrashClick:)];
UIBarButtonItem * mailItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemAction target:self action:#selector(onActionClick:)];
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItems = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects: refreshBtn, selectYearBtn, nil];