John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> writes:

> For papers and beamer presentations, I sometimes hide more "universal"
> babel blocks inside a sort of setup headline. I thought I'd done this
> before, but perhaps not... The idea would be like so:
>
> * Data setup     :noexport:
>
> #+begin_src R :session r
>
> load libraries
> read data files
> do universal operations
>
> #+end_src
>
> * Slide
>
> #+begin_src R :session r :exports results :results output graphics
>
> subset(larger_data_set_from_above)
> processing
> plot something
>
> #+end_src
>
> I noticed today that my :noexport: setup sections (I had a couple)
> were not updating. I re-defined a variable name further down in my
> file and it was re-using the definition from an above setup section
> (tagged with :noexport:). Just because I don't want it export doesn't
> mean I don't want to have useful stuff in the headline...
>
> Is this a bug/inappropriate setting, desirable based on how others use
> :noexport: headlines, or would others see value in executing babel
> blocks in :noexport: headlines?
>
> If I /didn't/ want it executed, I'd use :execute no.
>
>
> Thanks for any input,
> John
>

Instead of tagging the headline as :noexport: you can add the COMMENT
flag to it.  This should result in your desired behavior.  See the
attached example.