One of the most powerful features of Yii is how it works with data. In Yii, you may easily output data directly in view files, which is a good approach for the Web site's frontend. But when it comes to backend data components and widgets, Yii's ability to access data is a real timesaver.
Typically, you would take the following steps when working with one of these data components:
- Configure the data provider. It may get its data from an array, an SQL command, an ActiveRecord query, etc.
- Pass the data provider to a widget, such as a list view or grid view.
- Customize the widget to reflect the presentational style that you are after.
That's it. After doing these simple steps you will have a powerful interfaces, such as a full featured data grid that supports pagination, sorting, and filtering, ideal for the admin part of your project.