layout content not rendering

In my bootstrap I'm trying to setup a default layout:

$layout = Zend_Layout::startMvc( array( 'layout'     => 'application',
                                        'layoutPath' =>
"$dirname/../views/layouts",
                                        'contentKey' => 'CONTENT' ) );

I'm not exactly sure what to do with that new $layout variable however.


So then in my layout file, application.phtml, I have this:

<?php echo $this->layout()->content; ?>

But it produces nothing.


My controller looks like this:

<?php

class IndexController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
  public function indexAction()
  {
    $this->render();
  }
}


My view file, index.phtml, looks like this:

<p>In index view</p>


So what do I have to do to get the content from my view template to
render in my layout?


--
Greg Donald
http://destiney.com/