To display data in a readable format, you can use the formatter application component.

Step1 − Add the actionFormatter method to the SiteController.

public function actionFormatter(){
   return $this->render(''formatter'');
}

In the above code, we just render the formatter view.

Step 2 − Now, create a formatter.php view file inside the views/site folder.

<?php
   $formatter = Yii::$app->formatter;
   // output: January 1, 2016
   echo $formatter->asDate(''2016-01-01'', ''long''),"<br>";
   // output: 51.50%
   echo $formatter->asPercent(0.515, 2),"<br>";
   // output: <a href = "mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>
   echo $formatter->asEmail(''[email protected]''),"<br>";
   // output: Yes
   echo $formatter->asBoolean(true),"<br>";
   // output: (Not set)
   echo $formatter->asDate(null),"<br>";
?>

Step 3 − Go to http://localhost:8080/index.php?r=site/formatter, you will see the following output.

The formatter component supports the following formats related with date and time −

Step 4 − Modify the formatter view this way.

<?php
   $formatter = Yii::$app->formatter;
   echo $formatter->asDate(date(''Y-m-d''), ''long''),"<br>";
   echo $formatter->asTime(date("Y-m-d")),"<br>";
   echo $formatter->asDatetime(date("Y-m-d")),"<br>";

   echo $formatter->asTimestamp(date("Y-m-d")),"<br>";
   echo $formatter->asRelativeTime(date("Y-m-d")),"<br>";
?>

Step 5 − Type http://localhost:8080/index.php?r=site/formatter in the address bar of your web browser, you will see the following output.

Date Formats

There are also four date format shortcuts: short, medium, long, and full.

Step 1 − Modify the formatter view file this way.

<?php
   $formatter = Yii::$app->formatter;
   echo $formatter->asDate(date(''Y-m-d''), ''short''),"<br>";
   echo $formatter->asDate(date(''Y-m-d''), ''medium''),"<br>";
   echo $formatter->asDate(date(''Y-m-d''), ''long''),"<br>";
   echo $formatter->asDate(date(''Y-m-d''), ''full''),"<br>";
?>

Step 2 − If you go to the web browser and type http://localhost:8080/index.php?r=site/formatter, you will see the following output.

Number Formats

The formatter component supports the following formats related with numbers −

Step 1 − Modify the formatter view this way.

<?php
   $formatter = Yii::$app->formatter;
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asInteger(105),"<br>";
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asDecimal(105.41),"<br>";
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asPercent(0.51),"<br>";
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asScientific(105),"<br>";
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asCurrency(105, "$"),"<br>";
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asSize(105),"<br>";
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asShortSize(105),"<br>";
?>

Step 2 − Go to http://localhost:8080/index.php?r=site/formatter, you will see the following output.

Other Formats

Yii also supports other formats −

• text − The value is HTML-encoded.

• raw − The value is outputted as is.

• paragraphs − The value is formatted as HTML text paragraphs wrapped into the p tag.

• ntext − The value is formatted as an HTML plain text where newlines are converted into line breaks.

• html − The value is purified using HtmlPurifier to avoid XSS attacks.

• image − The value is formatted as an image tag.

• boolean − The value is formatted as a boolean.

• url − The value is formatted as a link.

• email − The value is formatted as a mailto-link.

The formatter may use the currently active locale to determine how to format a value for a specific country.

The following example shows how to format date for different locales.

<?php
   Yii::$app->formatter->locale = ''ru-RU'';
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asDate(''2016-01-01''); // output: 1 января 2016 г.
   Yii::$app->formatter->locale = ''de-DE'';
   // output: 1. Januar 2016
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asDate(''2016-01-01'');
   Yii::$app->formatter->locale = ''en-US'';
   // output: January 1, 2016
   echo Yii::$app->formatter->asDate(''2016-01-01'');
?>