diff --git a/nodes/core/core/80-function.html b/nodes/core/core/80-function.html
index c415f9791..70c4290e8 100644
--- a/nodes/core/core/80-function.html
+++ b/nodes/core/core/80-function.html
@@ -39,15 +39,21 @@
     <p>The message is passed in as a JavaScript object called <code>msg</code>.</p>
     <p>By convention it will have a <code>msg.payload</code> property containing
        the body of the message.</p>
-    <p>If your node need to log anything use the <code>node</code> object:
+    <h4>Logging and Error Handling</h4>
+    <p>To log any information, or report an error, the following functions are available:</p>
         <ul>
-            <li>Info: <code>node.log(msg);</code></li>
-            <li>Warning: <code>node.warn(msg);</code></li>
-            <li>Error: <code>node.error(msg);</code></li>
+            <li><code>node.log("Log")</code></li>
+            <li><code>node.warn("Warning")</code></li>
+            <li><code>node.error("Error")</code></li>
         </ul>
     </p>
-    <p>The function should return the messages it wants to pass on to the next nodes
-    in the flow. It can return:</p>
+    <p>The Catch node can also be used to handle errors. To invoke a Catch node,
+    pass <code>msg</code> as a second argument to <code>node.error</code>:</p>
+    <pre>node.error("Error",msg)</pre>
+    <h4>Sending messages</h4>
+    <p>The function can either return the messages it wants to pass on to the next nodes
+    in the flow, or can call <code>node.send(messages)</code>.</p>
+    <p>It can return/send:</p>
     <ul>
       <li>a single message object - passed to nodes connected to the first output</li>
       <li>an array of message objects - passed to nodes connected to the corresponding outputs</li>
diff --git a/nodes/core/core/80-function.js b/nodes/core/core/80-function.js
index 96681bd88..c33907358 100644
--- a/nodes/core/core/80-function.js
+++ b/nodes/core/core/80-function.js
@@ -19,19 +19,57 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
     var util = require("util");
     var vm = require("vm");
 
+    
+    function sendResults(node,_msgid,msgs) {
+        if (msgs == null) {
+            return;
+        } else if (!util.isArray(msgs)) {
+            msgs = [msgs];
+        }
+        var msgCount = 0;
+        for (var m=0;m<msgs.length;m++) {
+            if (msgs[m]) {
+                if (util.isArray(msgs[m])) {
+                    for (var n=0; n < msgs[m].length; n++) {
+                        msgs[m][n]._msgid = _msgid;
+                        msgCount++;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    msgs[m]._msgid = _msgid;
+                    msgCount++;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if (msgCount>0) {
+            node.send(msgs);
+        }
+                            
+    }
+    
     function FunctionNode(n) {
         RED.nodes.createNode(this,n);
         var node = this;
         this.name = n.name;
         this.func = n.func;
-        var functionText = "var results = null; results = (function(msg){\n"+this.func+"\n})(msg);";
+        var functionText = "var results = null;"+
+                           "results = (function(msg){ "+
+                              "var __msgid__ = msg._msgid;"+
+                              "var node = {"+
+                                 "log:__node__.log,"+
+                                 "error:__node__.error,"+
+                                 "warn:__node__.warn,"+
+                                 "on:__node__.on,"+
+                                 "send:function(msgs){ __node__.send(__msgid__,msgs);}"+
+                              "};\n"+
+                              this.func+"\n"+
+                           "})(msg);";
         this.topic = n.topic;
         var sandbox = {
             console:console,
             util:util,
             Buffer:Buffer,
-            node: {
-                log : function() {
+            __node__: {
+                log: function() {
                     node.log.apply(node, arguments);
                 },
                 error: function(){
@@ -39,11 +77,18 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                 },
                 warn: function() {
                     node.warn.apply(node, arguments);
+                },
+                send: function(id,msgs) {
+                    sendResults(node,id,msgs);
+                },
+                on: function() {
+                    node.on.apply(node,arguments);
                 }
             },
             context: {
                 global:RED.settings.functionGlobalContext || {}
-            }
+            },
+            setTimeout: setTimeout
         };
         var context = vm.createContext(sandbox);
         try {
@@ -53,26 +98,8 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                     var start = process.hrtime();
                     context.msg = msg;
                     this.script.runInContext(context);
-                    var results = context.results;
-                    if (results == null) {
-                        results = [];
-                    } else if (results.length == null) {
-                        results = [results];
-                    }
-                    if (msg._topic) {
-                        for (var m in results) {
-                            if (results[m]) {
-                                if (util.isArray(results[m])) {
-                                    for (var n=0; n < results[m].length; n++) {
-                                        results[m][n]._topic = msg._topic;
-                                    }
-                                } else {
-                                    results[m]._topic = msg._topic;
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                    this.send(results);
+                    sendResults(this,msg._msgid,context.results);
+                    
                     var duration = process.hrtime(start);
                     var converted = Math.floor((duration[0]* 1e9 +  duration[1])/10000)/100;
                     this.metric("duration", msg, converted);
diff --git a/test/nodes/core/core/80-function_spec.js b/test/nodes/core/core/80-function_spec.js
index 187b37a3d..e32f2bd6e 100644
--- a/test/nodes/core/core/80-function_spec.js
+++ b/test/nodes/core/core/80-function_spec.js
@@ -105,13 +105,17 @@ describe('function node', function() {
             var count = 0;
             n2.on("input", function(msg) {
                 count++;
-                should(msg).have.property('payload', count);
-                should(msg).have.property('_topic', 'baz');
-                if (count == 2) {
-                    done();
+                try {
+                    should(msg).have.property('payload', count);
+                    should(msg).have.property('_msgid', 1234);
+                    if (count == 2) {
+                        done();
+                    }
+                } catch(err) {
+                    done(err);
                 }
             });
-            n1.receive({payload:"foo", topic: "bar", _topic:"baz"});
+            n1.receive({payload:"foo", topic: "bar",_msgid:1234});
         });
     });