How do I get a back button in pushed ViewController (Xcode) - objective-c

Question

I have a viewController with a menu button set as navigationItem like this:
self.navigationItem.setLeftBarButton(leftButton, animated: false).
It brings up a drawer menu, which is fine in its context. But what if I want to push the viewController from elsewhere in the project where a back button is more appropriate instead of a menu button? That is, I just want to go back to the previous viewController instead of bringing up the menu. How do I get rid of the menu button and instead get the back button in that particular instance?
Here is the code for the class. As you can see, the navigationItem is set here.
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.setUserInterfaceStyleLight()
loginStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "StoryboardOne", bundle: nil)
let leftButton = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "menu-icon"), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(self.leftSideMenuButtonPressed(_:)))
self.navigationItem.setLeftBarButton(leftButton, animated: false)
self.segmentController.tintColor = .white
if showContacts == true {
lastSegmentViewed = 1
}
Analytics.logEvent("contact_book", parameters: nil)
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(userDidLogin(_:)), name: NSNotification.Name.UserDidLogin, object: nil)
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(applicationAndViewWasResumed(_:)), name: NSNotification.Name.UIApplicationDidBecomeActive, object: nil)
self.view.backgroundColor = ThemTemplate.shared.getThem().secondaryColor
if #available(iOS 13.0, *) {
segmentController.backgroundColor = UIColor.gray
} else {
segmentController.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
}
}
Is it possible to hide and disable the navigationItem from the previous viewController or change it to a back button?
This is how I push the viewController:
UIStoryboard *containerStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Login" bundle:nil];
BaseViewController *v = [containerStoryboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"base"];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:v animated:YES];
In the class before the push to the new viewController I tried something like:
v.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = nil;
v.navigationItem.hidesBackButton = NO;
...which did nothing (and yes, setting it to nil is dumb, just wanted to see if something happened and it did not).
The viewController I'm pushing from is not embedded in a navigationController, if that helps. I tried embedding it on one, but with the same results.
Left me know if there is anything else that can be helpful.

Answer 1

Add a Bool var in BaseViewController:
class BaseViewController: UIViewController {
var bShowMenu: Bool = true
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.setUserInterfaceStyleLight()
loginStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "StoryboardOne", bundle: nil)
if bShowMenu {
let leftButton = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "menu-icon"), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(self.leftSideMenuButtonPressed(_:)))
self.navigationItem.setLeftBarButton(leftButton, animated: false)
}
self.segmentController.tintColor = .white
if showContacts == true {
lastSegmentViewed = 1
}
Analytics.logEvent("contact_book", parameters: nil)
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(userDidLogin(_:)), name: NSNotification.Name.UserDidLogin, object: nil)
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(applicationAndViewWasResumed(_:)), name: NSNotification.Name.UIApplicationDidBecomeActive, object: nil)
self.view.backgroundColor = ThemTemplate.shared.getThem().secondaryColor
if #available(iOS 13.0, *) {
segmentController.backgroundColor = UIColor.gray
} else {
segmentController.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
}
}
}
then, when you instantiate the controller, tell it whether or not to use the "menu" button:
UIStoryboard *containerStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Login" bundle:nil];
BaseViewController *v = [containerStoryboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"base"];
// if you do NOT want the menu button
v.bShowMenu = false
[self.navigationController pushViewController:v animated:YES];