Can you set a template for every action within a controller?

Question

For instance I have a module My/Module (my_module) with a controller RenderController.php which has an action layoutAction. Is there a way that I can set a template for every action within the RenderController controller without having to do it for each individual "page" using layout xml.

I essentially want something like this:

<default>
        <reference name="root">
            <action method="setTemplate"><template>page/1column.phtml</template></action>
        </reference>
</default>

but I don't want that template to be assigned for EVERY page in my theme, but only for those within my module, or even the specific controller (RenderController.php) within that module.

Answer 1

If you want to change the template of the root reference, you can try with something like :

public function yourSpecialAction() {

    $this->loadLayout();
    $this->getLayout()->getBlock('root')->setTemplate('path/to/the/template/you/want'));
    // Do your process
    $this->renderLayout();
}

Answer 2

You could look to add a custom layout handle in your controller then set the template in your layout xml file. For example in your controller in your action method look to add something like:

$this->getLayout()->getUpdate()->addHandle('my_awesome_handle');

Then inside for your layout xml file you can do the following:

<my_awesome_handle>
    <reference name="root">
        <action method="setTemplate">
            <template>page/1column.phtml</template>
        </action>
    </reference>
</my_awesome_handle>