Use view helpers in controllers in Zend Framework
php, view-helpers, zend-framework
Solution
You can access any ViewHelper from the Controller by
$this->view->helpername(/*params*/);
// or
$helper = $this->view->getHelper('helpername');
// or
$broker = Zend_Controller_Action_HelperBroker::getStaticHelper('ViewRenderer');
$broker->getView()->helpername(/*params*/);
See Zend: How to use a custom function from a view helper in the controller?
However, you might be right that you are doing it wrong (funny pic btw), but I cannot really tell from your question. Please refine it as to why you need to call the view helper and what it is supposed to format.
Problem
I have a controller that is called with AJAX (sends JSON data), so I don't use a view. I need to use a personnal view helper to format my data, but in my controller. Is that possible ? Or maybe I am doing it wrong (maybe I should have a view, but how with JSON) ?