Question

I need to use a simple UIBarButtonItem in a UIToolBar.

I used this code to add the button with my custom image to the navigation bar:

UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"image_sheep.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(clone)];
NSArray *rightItems = [NSArray arrayWithObject:cloneButton];
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItems = rightItems;

The result is what I want and it looks like this

navigation bar http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3383/navigationbara.jpg

When doing the same thing in a UIToolBar that I’m adding to a UITableViewCell’s contentView

UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"image_sheep.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(clone)];
UIBarButtonItem *leftSpace = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil];
toolbar.items = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:leftSpace, cloneButton, nil];

The problem is that I get something like this:

toolbar http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1374/toolbary.jpg

This is surely due to the fact that UINavigationBar and UIToolBar are not drawn the same way…
Can someone please point out how to resolve this problem?

Answer 1

That’s how UIToolbar is supposed to work. Per the documentation:

Toolbar images that represent normal and highlighted states of an item derive from the image you set using the inherited image property from the UIBarItem class. For example, the image is converted to white and then bevelled by adding a shadow for the normal state.

That said, you might be able to get the result you want by creating a UIBarButtonItem with a custom view instead of an image. Like so:

UIImage *sheepImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"image_sheep.png"];
UIButton *sheepButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[sheepButton setImage:sheepImage forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[sheepButton addTarget:self action:@selector(clone) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[sheepButton setShowsTouchWhenHighlighted:YES];
[sheepButton sizeToFit];
UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:sheepButton];

I haven’t tested this, so I don’t know if it will work.