When you start learning Symfony2 using the book, you are introduced to the base controller. The base controller has some helpful methods to make common tasks easier. After a while though you may want to move away from extending this controller, in fact, it is the advised best practice for controllers in shared bundles. When you do, you will no longer have access to these useful methods, in this post I am going to look at how to accomplish the same tasks without them.
http://richardmiller.co.uk/2011/06/14/symfony2-moving-away-from-the-base-controller/