function &getElement($element)
    {
        if (isset($this->_elementIndex[$element])) {
            return $this->_elements[$this->_elementIndex[$element]];
        } else {
            $error = self::raiseError(null, QUICKFORM_NONEXIST_ELEMENT, null, E_USER_WARNING, "Element '$element' does not exist in HTML_QuickForm::getElement()", 'HTML_QuickForm_Error', true);
            return $error;
        }
    }