Why doesn't this work?

Code:
function parse_error($handler,$error_message,$error_code = 0)
{
	$handler["code"][] = $error_code;
	$handler["message"][] = $error_message;
	return $handler;
}
Nothing gets passed to the array... it's empty?? I originall tried this:

Code:
function parse_error($handler,$error_message,$error_code = 0)
{
	array_push($handler["code"],$error_code);
	array_push($handler["message"],$error_message);
	return $handler;
}