how to test if a table exist or not

Hi,

I'm trying to verify is a table exist, if not the it will create it.

if(tablep(My_table) then
       for( i 2 length(word)/2-1
              My_table[list(nthelem(2 word) nthelem(2*i+1 word))] = nthelem(2*i+2 word)
       )
else
       My_table=makeTable("Table")
)

Message: *Error* eval: unbound variable - My_table

I can use "boundp" to test it but if they have "tablep" function, it should be able to work.

Thanks