0001024 unable to assign a reference to class property hash if the key doesn't already exist <?php class bclass { var $str = 'hi there'; } class aclass { var $directive = array(); function runit($a) { $b =& new bclass(); // uncomment this and it works //$this->directive['obj'][$a] = array(); $this->directive['obj'][$a] =& $b; } } $a = new aclass(); $a->runit('akey'); echo $a->directive['obj']['akey']->str;