Sending variables to the layout in Zend Framework

Question

In my project I have a number of dynamic elements that are consistently on every page. I have put these in my layout.phtml

My question is: How can I send variables i

Answer 1

Without using helpers or plugins do :

Zend_Layout::getMvcInstance()->assign('whatever', 'foo');

After this you can use the following in your layout:

layout()->whatever; ?>

This will print "foo".