Configuring the backBarButtonItem of a View Controller's Navigation Item in a Storyboard

Question

It's easy enough to drag and drop bar button items onto a view controller's navigation bar in a storyboard in Interface Builder. In this way, you can set the leftBarButtonItem and rightBarButtonItem outlets of the view controller's navigation item. But there's also a backBarButtonItem outlet, and it's not obvious at all how to set it. How can I set a custom back bar button item using Interface Builder?

Answer 1

• Select the view controller whose navigation items you want to change. The black bar displaying the identity of the view controller changes to an iconified tray of its referenced objects.

• Drag and drop a bar button item from the object library onto the tray.

• Right-click on the view controller's navigation item in the main object tray on the left-hand side. Wire up the newly added button as the navigation item's backBarButtonItem outlet.

• Select the bar button and configure it in any way you choose with the Attributes Inspector.