# Specifying a map variable and alternate map in tHMap

The Map Variable parameter in tHMap allows you to specify a contextual variable that contains a path to a map.

This example shows you how you can build a Job using the tHMap component, where you specify a map variable and an alternate contextual map.

![](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/7.3/Resources/images/MapvariableJob.png)

## Prerequisites

* Ensure that you have created several contextual maps. In this example scenario, use three alternate contextual maps. ![](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/7.3/Resources/images/tHMaps_mapVariable.png)

* In your local machine, create a text file with the following content, where my\_map refers to the Map Variable name, job\_with\_tContextLoad refers to the Job name and thMap\_1\_c refers to the Alternate Contextual Map name:

  ```
  my_map;Jobs/job_with_tContextLoad/thMap_1_c
  ```

  Ensure that you replace the values according to the names of the Map variable, the Job, and the Alternate Contextual Map you created.

### In this section

* [Creating the Job](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/7.3/data-mapping/creating-job-create)
* [Configuring the Components](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/7.3/data-mapping/configuring-components-add)
* [Executing the Job](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/7.3/data-mapping/executing-job-click)