. Alternatively you can use the syntax that can be recognized by the
+PHP [date()](http://php.net/manual/de/function.date.php)-function using a string that is prefixed with `php:`.
+
+```php
+// ICU format
+echo Yii::$app->formatter->asDate('now', 'yyyy-MM-dd'); // 2014-10-06
+// PHP date()-format
+echo Yii::$app->formatter->asDate('now', 'php:Y-m-d'); // 2014-10-06
+```
+
+### Time zones
+
+When formatting date and time values, Yii will convert them to the [[yii\i18n\Formatter::timeZone|configured time zone]].
+Therefor the input value is assumed to be in UTC unless a time zone is explicitly given. For this reason
+it is recommended to store all date and time values in UTC preferably as a UNIX timestamp, which is always UTC by definition.
+If the input value is in a time zone different from UTC, the time zone has to be stated explicitly like in the following example:
+
+```php
+// assuming Yii::$app->timeZone = 'Europe/Berlin';
+echo Yii::$app->formatter->asTime(1412599260); // 14:41:00
+echo Yii::$app->formatter->asTime('2014-10-06 12:41:00'); // 14:41:00
+echo Yii::$app->formatter->asTime('2014-10-06 14:41:00 CEST'); // 14:41:00
+```
+
+> Note: As time zones are subject to rules made by the governments around the world and may change frequently, it is
+> likely that you do not have the latest information in the time zone database installed on your system.
+> You may refer to the [ICU manual](http://userguide.icu-project.org/datetime/timezone#TOC-Updating-the-Time-Zone-Data)
+> for details on updating the time zone database.
+> See also: [Setting up your PHP environment for internationalization](tutorial-i18n.md#setup-environment).
+
+
+Formatting Numbers
+------------------
+
+For formatting numeric values the formatter class provides the following methods:
+
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asInteger()|integer]] - the value is formatted as an integer e.g. `42`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asDecimal()|decimal]] - the value is formatted as a decimal number considering decimal and thousand separators e.g. `42.123`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asPercent()|percent]] - the value is formatted as a percent number e.g. `42%`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asScientific()|scientific]] - the value is formatted as a number in scientific format e.g. `4.2E4`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asCurrency()|currency]] - the value is formatted as a currency value e.g. `£420.00`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asSize()|size]] - the value that is a number of bytes is formatted as a human readable size e.g. `410 kibibytes`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asShortSize()|shortSize]] - is the short version of [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asSize()|size]], e.g. `410 KiB`.
+
+The format for number formatting can be adjusted using the [[yii\i18n\Formatter::decimalSeparator|decimalSeparator]] and
+[[yii\i18n\Formatter::thousandSeparator|thousandSeparator]] which are set by default according to the locale.
+
+For more advanced configuration, [[yii\i18n\Formatter::numberFormatterOptions]] and [[yii\i18n\Formatter::numberFormatterTextOptions]]
+can be used to configure the interally used [Numberformatter class](http://php.net/manual/en/class.numberformatter.php)
+
+For example to adjust the maximum and minimum value of fraction digits you can configure this property like the following:
+
+```php
+[
+ NumberFormatter::MIN_FRACTION_DIGITS => 0,
+ NumberFormatter::MAX_FRACTION_DIGITS => 2,
+]
+```
+
+Other formatters
+----------------
+
+Additional to date, time and number formatting, Yii provides a set of other useful formatters for different purposes:
+
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asRaw()|raw]] - the value is outputted as is, this is a pseudo-formatter that has no effect except that
+ `null` values will be formatted using [[nullDisplay]].
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asText()|text]] - the value is HTML-encoded.
+ This is the default format used by the [GridView DataColumn](output-data-widgets.md#data-column).
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asNtext()|ntext]] - the value is formatted as an HTML-encoded plain text with newlines converted
+ into line breaks.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asParagraphs()|paragraphs]] - the value is formatted as HTML-encoded text paragraphs wrapped
+ into `` tags.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asHtml()|html]] - the value is purified using [[HtmlPurifier]] to avoid XSS attacks. You can
+ pass additional options such as `['html', ['Attr.AllowedFrameTargets' => ['_blank']]]`.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asEmail()|email]] - the value is formatted as a `mailto`-link.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asImage()|image]] - the value is formatted as an image tag.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asUrl()|url]] - the value is formatted as a hyperlink.
+- [[yii\i18n\Formatter::asBoolean()|boolean]] - the value is formatted as a boolean. By default `true` is rendered
+ as `Yes` and `false` as `No`, translated to the application language. You adjust this by configuring
+ the [[yii\i18n\Formatter::booleanFormat]]-property.
+
+`null`-values
+-------------
+
+For values that are `null` in PHP, the formatter class will print a placeholder instead of and empty string which
+defaults to `(not set)` translated to the current application language. You can configure the
+[[yii\i18n\Formatter::nullDisplay|nullDisplay]]-property to set a custom placeholder.
+If you want no special handling for `null` values, you can set [[yii\i18n\Formatter::nullDisplay|nullDisplay]] to `null`.