Question

I want to know if it is possible to add UIBarButtons to a SegmentedControl. It compiles but gives a runtime error:

-[UIBarButtonItem isEqualToString:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x4b4fcc0

Here is my code.

UIBarButtonItem *atolButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:@"A to L"
      style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:@selector(atol:)];

UIBarButtonItem *ltozButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:@"L to Z"
      style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:@selector(ltoz:)];

NSArray *titleButtons = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: atolButton, ltozButton, nil];

UISegmentedControl *segmentedControl = [[UISegmentedControl alloc] initWithItems:titleButtons];
self.navigationItem.titleView = segmentedControl;
[segmentedControl release];
...

- (void)atol:(id) sender {
NSLog(@"atol called");  
}

- (void)ltoz:(id) sender {
    NSLog(@"ltoz called");
}

I have been able to make it work with the following code

NSArray *itemArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: @"a to l", @"l to z", nil];
UISegmentedControl *segmentedControl = [[UISegmentedControl alloc] initWithItems:itemArray];
segmentedControl.segmentedControlStyle = UISegmentedControlStylePlain;
segmentedControl.selectedSegmentIndex = 1;
[segmentedControl addTarget:self action:@selector(atol:)
     forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];

self.navigationItem.titleView = segmentedControl;

[segmentedControl release];

Answer 1

UISegmentedControl inherits from UIControl which inherits from UIView, so you can add subViews to it as you would to a UIView.

However, the segmented aspect is quite different. Each segment has an image property and title property, but that’s all.

When you invoke initWithItems:, this must be an NSArray of UIImages or NSStrings.

I have no idea what you’re trying to do that compels you to add buttons to a segmented controller, but I encourage you instead to set the title and image properties of the UISegmentedController and the customize the action in whatever method the controller is meant to trigger. For example:

-(void)segmentAction:(UISegmentedController *)segment {
    if (segment.selectedSegmentIndex == 0) {
        [self atol];
    } else {
        [self ltoz];
    }
}

I have no idea what you cannot accomplish this way that you wish to do.