abstract class BaseController extends Zend_Rest_Controller
{
//Please know that the init() method has been snipped out.	
 
	public static function getXML($obj)
    {
    	$doc = new DOMDocument();
		$doc->formatOutput = true;
		$root_element = $doc->createElement("response");
		$doc->appendChild($root_element);
 
    	foreach($obj as $var => $value) {
        	$statusElement = $doc->createElement($var);
			if (!is_array($value)) {
				$statusElement->appendChild($doc->createTextNode($value));
				$root_element->appendChild($statusElement);
			} else {
				BaseController::_xmlHelper(&$doc, &$root_element, &$statusElement, &$value);
			}
		}
		print $doc->saveXML();
    }
	public static function _xmlHelper(&$doc, &$root_element, &$statusElement, &$value) {
		if (is_array($value)) {
			foreach ($value as $key => $val) {
				if (is_array($val)) {
					BaseController::_xmlHelper(&$doc, &$root_element, &$statusElement, $val);
				} else if (is_object($val)) {
					$se = $doc->createElement(str_replace('object','',get_class($val)));
					$arr = get_object_vars($val);
					BaseController::_xmlHelper(&$doc, &$root_element, &$se, $arr);
					$root_element->appendChild($se);
 
				} else {
					//print $key . " => " . $val . "\n";
					$se = $doc->createElement($key);
					$se->appendChild($doc->createTextNode($val));
					$statusElement->appendChild($se);
				}
			}
			//print_r($value);
		} else {
			$statusElement->appendChild($doc->createTextNode($value));
			$root_element->appendChild($statusElement);
		}
	}
}

class VersionController extends BaseController 
{ 
/*  implement the methods as show in the blog referenced at the top of this blog post */
public function init()
    {
       $this->view->hello = array('a'=>'1', 'b'=>'2');
    }
}

<?php
BaseController::getXML($this);
?>

SetEnv APPLICATION_ENV development
 
RewriteEngine On
#RewriteBase /~myUserName/myDirectory
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]

[production]
phpSettings.display_startup_errors = 0
phpSettings.display_errors = 0
bootstrap.path = APPLICATION_PATH "/Bootstrap.php"
resources.frontController.controllerDirectory = APPLICATION_PATH "/controllers"
bootstrap.class = "Bootstrap"
 
[staging : production]
 
[testing : production]
phpSettings.display_startup_errors = 1
phpSettings.display_errors = 1
 
[development : production]
phpSettings.display_startup_errors = 1
phpSettings.display_errors = 1

<?php
 
class Bootstrap extends Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap
{
	protected function _initAutoload()
    {
        $autoloader = new Zend_Application_Module_Autoloader(array(
            'namespace' => 'Default_',
            'basePath'  => dirname(__FILE__),
        ));
        return $autoloader;
    } 
 
	protected function _initRestRoute()
	{
		$this->bootstrap('Request');	
		$front = $this->getResource('FrontController');
		$restRoute = new Zend_Rest_Route($front, array(), array(
			'default' => array('version')
		));
		$front->getRouter()->addRoute('rest', $restRoute);
	} 
 
	protected function _initRequest()
    {
        $this->bootstrap('FrontController');
        $front = $this->getResource('FrontController');
        $request = $front->getRequest();
    	if (null === $front->getRequest()) {
            $request = new Zend_Controller_Request_Http();
            $front->setRequest($request);
        }
    	return $request;        
    } 		
 
}

<?php
// Define path to application directory
defined('APPLICATION_PATH')
    || define('APPLICATION_PATH', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/application'));
 
// Define application environment
defined('APPLICATION_ENV')
    || define('APPLICATION_ENV', (getenv('APPLICATION_ENV') ? getenv('APPLICATION_ENV') : 'production'));
 
// Ensure library/ is on include_path
/*
If you do not have the Zend library already included in your PHP installation...
 
1.  Create a directory named library and place the Zend Framework into it.
 
NOTE: In my instance, I have the Zend library residing under /usr/share/php/   
Because of this, the following lines are commented.
*/
/*set_include_path(implode(PATH_SEPARATOR, array(
    realpath(APPLICATION_PATH . '/library'),
    get_include_path(),
)));
*/
 
/** Zend_Application */
require_once 'Zend/Application.php'; 
 
// Create application, bootstrap, and run
$application = new Zend_Application(
    APPLICATION_ENV, 
    APPLICATION_PATH . '/configs/application.ini'
);
$application->bootstrap()->run();

<?php
 
class VersionController extends Zend_Rest_Controller
{  
	public function init()
    {
        $bootstrap = $this->getInvokeArg('bootstrap');
 
		$options = $bootstrap->getOption('resources');
 
		$contextSwitch = $this->_helper->getHelper('contextSwitch');
		$contextSwitch->addActionContext('index', array('xml','json'))->initContext();
 
		//$this->_helper->viewRenderer->setNeverRender();	
		$this->view->success = "true";
		$this->view->version = "1.0";
	}
 
    /**
     * The index action handles index/list requests; it should respond with a
     * list of the requested resources.
     */ 
    public function indexAction()
    {
		//if you want to have access to a particular paramater use the helper function as follows:
		//print $this->_helper->getParam('abc');
               //To test with this use:  http://myURL/format/xml/abc/1002
	}
 
    public function listAction()
    {
        $this->_forward('index');
    }
 
    public function getAction()
    {
		$this->_forward('index');
    }
 
    public function newAction() {   	
		$this->_forward('index');
    }
    public function postAction() {
		$this->_forward('index');
    }
    public function editAction() {    	 
		$this->_forward('index');
    }
    public function putAction() {
		$this->_forward('index');
    } 
    public function deleteAction() {
		$this->_forward('index');
    }
}

<?php
$doc = new DOMDocument();
$doc->formatOutput = true;
$root_element = $doc->createElement("response");
$doc->appendChild($root_element);
 
$statusElement = $doc->createElement("success");
$statusElement->appendChild($doc->createTextNode($this->success));
$root_element->appendChild($statusElement);
 
$versionElement = $doc->createElement("version");
$versionElement->appendChild($doc->createTextNode($this->version));
$root_element->appendChild($versionElement);
 
print $doc->saveXML();
?>