>>> [!note] Migrated issue <!-- Drupal.org comment --> <!-- Migrated from issue #1166626. --> Reported by: [KeyboardCowboy](https://www.drupal.org/user/176328) >>> <p>API page: <a href="http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/developer--example.profile/function/example_form/7">http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/developer--example.profile/function/example_form/7</a></p> <p>Describe the problem you have found:<br> It appears that the function signature should be</p> <p><code>example_form($form, &amp;$form_state) { ... }</code></p> <p>I found while running PHP 5.3.2 that the current signature throws the following warning:</p> <p><code>&lt;em&gt;Warning:&lt;/em&gt; Parameter 1 to MODULE_form_settings() expected to be a reference, value given in drupal_retrieve_form() (line 771 of /PATH/TO/WEBROOT/includes/form.inc).</code></p> <p>Line 755 appears to merge a non-referenced variable in the 0 position of the <code>$args</code> array.</p> <p>/includes/file.inc</p> <pre>751&nbsp;&nbsp; $form = array();<br>752&nbsp;&nbsp; // We need to pass $form_state by reference in order for forms to modify it,<br>753&nbsp;&nbsp; // since call_user_func_array() requires that referenced variables are passed<br>754&nbsp;&nbsp; // explicitly.<br>755&nbsp;&nbsp; $args = array_merge(array($form, &amp;$form_state), $args);<br>756<br>757&nbsp;&nbsp; // When the passed $form_state (not using drupal_get_form()) defines a<br>758&nbsp;&nbsp; // 'wrapper_callback', then it requests to invoke a separate (wrapping) form<br>759&nbsp;&nbsp; // builder function to pre-populate the $form array with form elements, which<br>760&nbsp;&nbsp; // the actual form builder function ($callback) expects. This allows for<br>761&nbsp;&nbsp; // pre-populating a form with common elements for certain forms, such as<br>762&nbsp;&nbsp; // back/next/save buttons in multi-step form wizards. See drupal_build_form().<br>763&nbsp;&nbsp; if (isset($form_state['wrapper_callback']) &amp;&amp; function_exists($form_state['wrapper_callback'])) {<br>764&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $form = call_user_func_array($form_state['wrapper_callback'], $args);<br>765&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; // Put the prepopulated $form into $args.<br>766&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $args[0] = $form;<br>767&nbsp;&nbsp; }<br>768<br>769&nbsp;&nbsp; // If $callback was returned by a hook_forms() implementation, call it.<br>770&nbsp;&nbsp; // Otherwise, call the function named after the form id.<br>771&nbsp;&nbsp; $form = call_user_func_array(isset($callback) ? $callback : $form_id, $args);<br>772&nbsp;&nbsp; $form['#form_id'] = $form_id;<br>773<br>774&nbsp;&nbsp; return $form;<br>775 }</pre>