** should this throw an error for no variable definition :PROPERTIES: :DATE: 2011-09-15 :END: Evaluating this block should raise an error that there are uninitialized variables. #+begin_src sql -- add column `$column' (if column does not exist yet) IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_NAME = '$table' AND COLUMN_NAME = '$column') BEGIN ALTER TABLE $table ADD $column $type $nullability END #+end_src