Yii/Giix - Standard 2 Column Layout - yii

Question

The code below shows the two column layout in Yii. The $content variable holds a search form and a gridview form.
I'm trying to get the gridview to appear to the right of the Advanced Search Section in this two-column grid format. Kind of brain farting here, where in the standard Giix structure is the variable $content given it's contents? I didn't see it in the basemodel or controller.
Thanks in advance.
<?php /* #var $this Controller */ ?>
<?php $this->beginContent('//layouts/main'); ?>
<div class="span-24">
<div id="content">
<?php echo $content; ?>
</div><!-- content -->
</div>
<div class="span-5 last">
<div id="sidebar">
<?php
$this->beginWidget('zii.widgets.CPortlet', array(
'title'=>'Operations',
));
$this->widget('zii.widgets.CMenu', array(
'items'=>$this->menu,
'htmlOptions'=>array('class'=>'operations'),
));
$this->endWidget();
?>
</div><!-- sidebar -->
</div>
<?php $this->endContent(); ?>

Answer 1

$content is given its content when your controller call $this->render() at the end of its action.
public function actionIndex() {
// renders the view file 'protected/views/site/index.php'
// using the default layout 'protected/views/layouts/main.php'
[some code...]
$this->render('index');
}
The process involved is a bit obfuscated but you can easily trace it down by setting a breakpoint and looking at the stack in your debugger.
You can also read the code :
render() is a method of the CController class :
public function render($view, $data = null, $return = false) {
if ($this->beforeRender($view)) {
$output = $this->renderPartial($view, $data, true); // (1)
if (($layoutFile = $this->getLayoutFile($this->layout)) !== false)
$output = $this->renderFile($layoutFile, array('content' => $output), true); // (2)
[snip...]
}
}
(1) If no error occurs before rendering, the view is populated and its HTML code assigned to $output : $output = $this->renderPartial($view, $data, true);
(2) Then, unless you stated in your action that the view must not be decorated by the layout by colling $this->setLayout(false), the Decorator pattern is applied and the internal view set in the layout :
$output = $this->renderFile($layoutFile, array('content' => $output), true)
Here, you shall notice that the second argument is an array : array('content' => $output)
renderfile() is a method of CBaseController which, at some point, will call
public function renderInternal($_viewFile_, $_data_ = null, $_return_ = false) {
// we use special variable names here to avoid conflict when extracting data
if (is_array($_data_))
extract($_data_, EXTR_PREFIX_SAME, 'data'); // (1)
else
$data = $_data_;
if ($_return_) {
ob_start();
ob_implicit_flush(false);
require($_viewFile_); // (2)
return ob_get_clean();
}
else
require($_viewFile_);
}
And that's where your answer lies :
(1) $data is still our array('content' => $output). The extract function will build and initialize variables from this array, namely your $content variable.
(2) The layout file is now required. $content exists in its scope, as well, of course, as your controller wich lies behind $this

Answer 2

Use a grid layout in the specific view. It should something like
<div class='span-10'>
//search form
</div>
<div class='span-9'>
//grid
</div>