Email Task
Overview
The Email task allows you to create and send emails. In order to execute Email tasks, you first need to define an Email Connection, which defines the server information needed to create and send emails.
Built-In Variables
The following built-in variables can be used in an Email task to pass data where appropriate:
Creating an Email Task
Step 1 | From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Tasks > Email Tasks. The Email Tasks list displays a list of all currently defined Email tasks. |
---|---|
Step 2 | Enter/select Details for a new Email task, using the field descriptions below as a guide.
To display more of the Details fields on the screen, you can either:
|
Step 3 | Click a button. The task is added to the database, and all buttons and tabs in the Task Details are enabled. |
Note
To open an existing record on the list, either:
- Click a record in the list to display its record Details below the list. (To clear record Details below the list, click the New button that displays above and below the Details.)
- Clicking the Details icon next to a record name in the list, or right-click a record in the list and then click Open in the Action menu that displays, to display a pop-up version of the record Details.
- Right-click a record in the a list, or open a record and right-click in the record Details, and then click Open In Tab in the Action menu that displays, to display the record Details under a new tab on the record list page (see Record Details as Tabs).
Email Task Details
The following Email Task Details is for an existing Email task.
Depending on the values that you enter / select for these fields, and whether or not the Email task has ever been launched, more (or less) fields may display. See the field descriptions, below, for a description of all fields that may display in the Email Task Details.
Email Task Details Field Descriptions
The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs that display in the Email Task Details.
Field Name | Description |
---|---|
General | This section contains general information about the task. |
Name | User-defined name of this task (Maximum = 255 alphanumeric characters); variables supported. It is the responsibility of the user to develop a workable naming scheme for tasks. |
Version | System-supplied; version number of the current record, which is incremented by the Controller every time a user updates a record. Click the Versions tab to view previous versions. For details, see Record Versioning. |
Description | Description of this record. Maximum length is 255 characters. |
Member of Business Services | User-defined; Allows you to select one or more Business Services that this record belongs to. (You also can Check All or Uncheck All Business Services for this record.) You can select up to 62 Business Services for any record type, and enter a maximum of 2048 characters for each Business Service. If the Business Service Visibility Restricted Universal Controller system property is set to true, depending on your assigned (or inherited) Permissions or Roles, Business Services available for selection may be restricted. |
Resolve Name Immediately | If enabled, the Instance Name of the task instance will be resolved immediately at trigger/launch time. |
Time Zone Preference | User-defined; Allows you to specify the time zone that will be applied to the task. Options:
|
Hold on Start | If enabled, when the task is launched it appears in the Activity Monitor with a status of Held. The task runs when the user releases it. |
Hold Reason |
Information about why the task will be put on hold when it starts. |
Virtual Resource Priority | Priority for acquiring a resource when two or more tasks are waiting for the resource. This priority applies to all resources required by the task. Options: 1 (high) - 100 (low). Default is 10. |
Hold Resources on Failure |
If enabled, the task instance will continue to hold Renewable resources if the task instance fails. Renewable resources will be returned only if the task instance status is either Complete, Finished, or Skipped. |
Mutually Exclusive With Self | If enabled, the task will not be allowed to run concurrently with itself. Task will not start until the instance that is running finishes. An instance will transition to Exclusive Wait status if it cannot start due to another instance already running. |
Simulate | Specifies if the instance should execute under simulation mode. |
Override Previous Instance Wait | Specifies whether or not to override the parent workflow's Previous Instance Wait configuration. This option only applies for an instance running within a workflow. Options:
|
Email Details | This section contains assorted detailed information about the task. |
Email Template | Name of an Email template defined in an Email Template Details. An Email template allows you to specify standard recipients and text for outgoing emails. Enter the name of an existing Email template, select an Email template from the drop-down list, or click the Details icon to create a new Email template. Every Email template specifies an Email connection. If you do not specify an Email template in this field, you must specify an Email connection in the Email Connection field. If you specify both an Email template (in this field) and an Email Connection, the Email server specified in the Email Connection field overrides the Email server specified in this field. Note Any information specified in an Email task (or Email Notification) overrides what is specified in an Email template. |
Email Template Variable | Indication of whether the Email Template field is a reference field for selecting a specific Email Template (unchecked) or a text field for specifying the Email Template as a variable (checked). Use the format: Note When updating multiple Tasks, to change from using a Email Template reference to using a Email Template variable, you must change the Email Template Variable field to Yes and specify the Email Template variable in the Email Template Unresolved field. Conversely, to change from using an Email Template variable to using an Email Template reference, you must change the Email Template Variable field to No and specify the Email Template reference in the Email Template field. |
Email Connection | Required if an Email Template is not specified in the Email Template field; Name of an outgoing Email Connection (Type = Outgoing). An Email Connection specifies information about an outgoing or incoming email server. Enter the name of an existing outgoing Email Connection, select an existing outgoing Email Connection from the drop-down list, or clear the Email Connection field and click the Details icon to create a new Email Connection (Outgoing will be pre-selected in the Type field). If you specify both an Email Template and an Email Connection (in this field), the Email Connection specified in this field overrides the Email Connection specified in the Email Template field. |
Reply-To |
|
To |
|
Cc |
|
Bcc |
|
Subject |
|
Body | Text of the email message. Variables and functions supported. Note If both the Email Template and the Email Task (or Email Notification) contain text in the Body, the text in the Email Template is appended to the text in the Email Task (or Email Notification). |
Report | Report to attach to this email. |
Report Variable | Indication of whether the Report field is a reference field for selecting a specific Report (unchecked) or a text field for specifying the Report as a variable (checked). Use the format:
The variable must be a supported type as described in Variables and Functions. Note When updating multiple Tasks, to change from using a report reference to using a report variable, you must change the Report Variable field to Yes and specify the report variable in the Report Unresolved field. Conversely, to change from using a report variable to a using a report reference, you must change the Report Variable field to No and specify the report reference in the Report field. |
List Report Format | Report format Options:
If the attached report is not a List type report, this option will be ignored. |
Attach Local File | If the uc.email.attachments.local.path Universal Controller Start-Up Property specifies a local directory; specification for whether or not to attach a local file to the task. |
Local Attachments Path | If Attach Local File is selected; Read-Only field showing the location of Local Attachments for the connected Node. |
Local Attachment | If Attach Local File is selected; Name of the file(s) to attach. Supports variables as well as comma-separated list of file names. |
Wait / Delay Options | This section contains specifications for waiting to start and/or delaying on start the task. |
Wait To Start |
Amount of time to wait before starting a task from the time that it was launched.
|
Wait Time | If Wait To Start = Time or Relative Time; Time of day (in 24-hour time) to wait until before starting the task. |
Wait Day Constraint | If Wait To Start = Time or Relative Time; Specification for whether or not to advance the wait time to another day. Valid values:
Default is – None --. |
Wait Duration | If Wait To Start = Duration; Number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to wait before starting the task. |
Wait Duration In Seconds | If Wait To Start = Seconds; Number of seconds to wait before starting the task. |
Delay On Start |
Amount of time to delay the start of a task, after it has been launched, from the time that it is eligible to start; that is, all dependencies have been met. For example: it is not being held, it is not waiting on any predecessors, or there is no wait time specified.
|
Delay Duration | If Delay On Start = Duration; Number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to delay after starting the task. |
Delay Duration In Seconds | If Delay On Start = Seconds; Number of seconds to delay after starting the task. |
Workflow Only | Specification for whether or not to apply the Wait To Start and Delay On Start specifications only if the task is in a Workflow.
|
Time Options | This section contains time-related specifications for the task. |
Late Start | If enabled, and if the task instance starts after the time or period specified, the task instance is flagged as late. You can specify a time or duration to determine a late start (see Late Start Type). To determine whether a task instance started late, open the task instance and locate the Started Late field; the field is checked if the instance started after the specified time. The Started Late field displays in the task instance Details only if the user specified a Late Start in the task Details. |
Late Start Type | Required if Late Start is enabled. Options:
|
Late Start Time | If Late Start Type = Time; Time after which the task start time is considered late. Use HH:MM, 24-hour time. |
Late Start Day Constraint | If Late Start Type = Time; Specification for whether or not to advance the late start time to another day.
Default is – None --. |
Late Start Nth Amount | If Late Start Day Constraint = Nth Day; Number of days to advance. |
Late Start Duration | If Late Start Type = Duration; Duration (amount of relative time) after which the task is considered to have started late. For a task within a workflow, the duration is the period between the time the workflow starts and the time the task itself starts. For example, a task might have a Late Start Duration of 60 minutes. If the workflow starts at 9:00 a.m. but the task itself does not start until 10:30, the task has started late. For a task that is not within a workflow, Late Start Duration has meaning only if the task has been held upon starting. For example, if a task has a Late Start Duration of 60 minutes and the Hold on Start field is enabled, if the task is not released from hold within the amount of time specified in the Late Start Duration field, the task has started late. |
Late Finish | If enabled, and if the task instance finishes after the time or period specified, the task instance is flagged as late. You can specify a time or duration to determine a late finish (see Late Finish Type). To determine whether a task instance finished late, open the task instance and locate the Finished Late field; the field is checked if the instance finished after the specified time or lasted longer than expected. This field only appears on the task instance if the user specified a Late Finish in the task definition. |
Late Finish Type | Req |