[TYPO3-dev] PHP Based View without extra templates?

[freetime coder]

Hi,

I have been trying to get PHP Based Views to run with 6.1.5, because I want to generate some csv data for certain requests. Seeing how all the samples invoke json or xml it seemed only fitting. I also got it to work, as in my custom view returns custom text, but only inside the layout given by the page, e.g. the same way it would look if the coresponding controller action returns a string.

Now I was under the impression, that php based views replace the whole of typo3's template setup in the backend, since it is also mentioned to be the way to generate pdf files. 

Apart from a few tutorial sites docs.typo3.org/typo3cms/ExtbaseFluidBook/8-Fluid/9-using-php-based-views.html and wiki.t3easy.de/extbase-und-fluid/extbase-php-based-view/ I have not found much up to date information on the topic. Of course I could create blank templates in the backend, but is there an option I have missed?

Thanks in advance,
freetimecoder