Using the Toolbar

We can use the toolbar to modify view elements.

For example, in the mail application, the inbox bar includes options like delete, share, reply, and more, as shown below:

Important Attributes

• barStyle
• items

Adding a Custom Method addToolbar

-(void)addToolbar
{
    UIBarButtonItem *spaceItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] 
    initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace
    target:nil action:nil];
    UIBarButtonItem *customItem1 = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc]
    initWithTitle:@"Tool1" style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered 
    target:self action:@selector(toolBarItem1:)];
    UIBarButtonItem *customItem2 = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc]
    initWithTitle:@"Tool2" style:UIBarButtonItemStyleDone 
    target:self action:@selector(toolBarItem2:)];
    NSArray *toolbarItems = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: 
    customItem1,spaceItem, customItem2, nil];
    UIToolbar *toolbar = [[UIToolbar alloc]initWithFrame:
    CGRectMake(0, 366+54, 320, 50)];
    [toolbar setBarStyle:UIBarStyleBlackOpaque];
    [self.view addSubview:toolbar];
    [toolbar setItems:toolbarItems];
}

To understand the actions performed, we add a UILabel IBOutlet in our ViewController.xib and create an IBOutlet named label for the UILabel.

We also need to add two methods to perform the toolbar item actions, as shown below:

-(IBAction)toolBarItem1:(id)sender{
    [label setText:@"Tool 1 Selected"];
}

-(IBAction)toolBarItem2:(id)sender{
    [label setText:@"Tool 2 Selected"];    
}

Update viewDidLoad in ViewController.m as follows:

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];
    // The method hideStatusbar called after 2 seconds
    [self addToolbar];    
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
}

Output

Now, when we run the application, we will see the following output.

Clicking the tool1 and tool2 bar buttons gives us the following results.