Question

I’m using the following code to create a custom edit button item:

UIButton *editButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
    [editButton addTarget:self action:@selector(startEditing) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
    [editButton setTitle:@"Filters" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    editButton.frame = CGRectMake(editButton.frame.origin.x, editButton.frame.origin.y, 60.0, 30.0);
    [editButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"contact_btn_bg.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [editButton setTitleColor:[UIColor whiteColor] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [editButton.titleLabel setFont:[UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:12.0f]];

    UIBarButtonItem *cEditButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:editButton];

    self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = cEditButtonItem;
    [editButton release];

But I am not sure how to customize the “Done” state. Of course I can use an if/then switch to call a new (void)finishEditing procedure but I’m not sure what would need to be in the finish editing proc, nor am I sure if I should be incorporating the idea of states in this or just switching out the button for Normal State when I need to.

My (void)startEditing looks like this:

- (void)startEditing {
    [self setEditing:YES animated:YES];
}

Answer 1

Here’s how I handle this in my apps.

First, create two properties on your class for your two UIBarButtonItems.

@property (nonatomic, retain) UIBarButtonItem *editButton;
@property (nonatomic, retain) UIBarButtonItem *doneButton;

Make sure that they’re synthesized and configure them with the appropriate target/action in -viewDidLoad. Now create a method that returns a UIBarButtonItem.

- (UIBarButtonItem *)leftBarButtonItem
{
    if (self.tableView.editing)
        return self.doneButton;

    return self.editButton;
}

Now in the methods you’ve assigned to your Edit and Done buttons, you just need to set the appropriate button in your UINavigationItem to the method we created.

[self.navigationItem setLeftBarButtonItem:self.leftBarButtonItem animated:YES];