The 2026 Drupal Business Survey is open. Your response will help shape the future of the Drupal business ecosystem.As per my testing and the documentation at http://api.drupal.org/api/function/hook_validate/6, the $node argument is not passed by reference.
From http://api.drupal.org/api/function/hook_validate/6 :
hook_validate($node, &$form)
The http://api.drupal.org/api/function/node_example_validate code example uses &$node and even goes as far as demonstrating how you can modify $node as needed. I believe this is simply not possible.
| Comment | File | Size | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2 | node_example_hook_validate.patch | 593 bytes | ilo |
Comments
Comment #1
jhodgdonJust to clarify, in PHP 4, the called function determines whether an object is passed by value or reference (in PHP5, it is always by reference). In other words, if I make an example_validate() function and put &$node as the first argument, then that $node will be passed in by reference.
However, as noted in the hook_validate documentation, "Changes made to the $node object within a hook_validate() function will have no effect." (this is because the $node object that is passed in, by reference or not, is not used after that in the calling function).
So you are correct that the node_example_validate() function is not going to work when it sets the quantity to zero. It should be following the instructions in hook_validate()'s doc and using the form state to change the value.
Moving to correct issue queue (we are maintaining the example modules now in a separate project).
Comment #2
ilo commentedThe form sets empty value as 0 and I was about to introduce a check for $node->quantity no hook_insert and hook_update, but this is the purpose of hook_validate, so I just removed the parameter by reference and the code modifying $node->quantity.
Comment #3
ilo commentedcommitted to DRUPAL-6--1.
Comment #4
jhodgdonIt might be useful for the example to show how to set a new value for something using the form state, as an illustration.
Comment #5
ilo commentedSorry, jhodgdon, I can't follow you. It is the $form, not the $form_state what is passed to hook_validate. Do you have something in mind? can you point me an example of this form change?
Comment #6
jhodgdonTrue about $form... although is $form_state part of $form? If not, then the advice here http://api.drupal.org/api/function/hook_validate/6 about calling form_set_value() is useless.
Our status changes crossed paths...