The answer is less easy than you think. It is straightforward one but if you have more than a half dozen tasks it starts to get daunting to do what you want.
First of all, keep in mind that you probably want to relay information about a few, select, variables. There are many variables you can call and send via email but you probably only care about these:
Name - this is the name of the task (or Job) as it is in visualcron
Description - the description you have entered in (job or task)
Last Executed - the last time it ran
Next Run - the next time it will run (this is a job variable only)
Output - the result of the task as reported by that task. So an executable output could be lots of things but if your task is, for example, copying a file, then the output is the name and path of the destination file
Result - this is a Success or failure typically. (also, you can use Exit Code Description)
OK, so let us say we like the variables above, how do you get them in the email. There are multiple ways but the easiest, I have found is to send a Text based email and simply copy/paste the above items into the body of the email (or subject of the email). Alternatively you can use a job report to pull some of this or an html email message, etc. The text based email is the simplest and easiest although the email may be longer than you like or difficult for a non-technical person to read easily. It really depends on the variables you want to relay and the results generated by your specific task
For each task you have in a job there is small link at the bottom left that says Copy Task ID - I suggest you do that once and then paste into Notepad just to see what the ID looks like. You will see something like this: 22246132-80c2-4fca-ba66-7de29a0fab19
Every job, task, variable, etc in VC has an ID like this. This is how the system keeps everything orderly.
Below the Copy Task ID is a button that says Variables. Click that, then go down to
'VisualCron Variables'
From here you can expand the list of jobs and tasks - since you are already in a job, Expand 'Active Job' and you will see your tasks, triggers, etc.
From here you can expand and for each available variable you want, select it, then you will see it in the small window below the selection section.
Below the variable code or key - EXAMPLE: {TASK(93b8cc3b-887d-4e6e-9f44-3047bb279a16|Name)}
You will see the corresponding "real" value - EXAMPLE: Restore Process Start Email
If you copy to the clipboard, the variable you have selected you can then use that to build your email body.
Long story short, here is an example I have for a real email I send daily:
*********************************
{JOB(Active|Name)}
was last executed at:
{JOB(Active|LastRun|M/d/yyyy h:mm tt)}
Job Description:
{JOB(Active|Desc)}
{TASK(aebb4903-6a02-469a-86e1-1efb8f6e7b1f|Name)}
{TASK(7b6995e1-f059-41b6-982c-95a405b08e02|StdOut)}
{TASK(f6b24851-677f-4e3c-8580-133e50128cb9|Name)}
{TASK(f6b24851-677f-4e3c-8580-133e50128cb9|StdOut)}
**********************************************************
Here is an explanation of some of those you see above
{JOB(Active|Name)} - This is the name of the job being run
was last executed at:
{JOB(Active|LastRun|M/d/yyyy h:mm tt)} - this is the last time it ran
Job Description:
{JOB(Active|Desc)} - this is the description I have typed in VisualCron
{TASK(aebb4903-6a02-469a-86e1-1efb8f6e7b1f|Name)} - this is one of the tasks that runs - this is its name in visualcron
{TASK(7b6995e1-f059-41b6-982c-95a405b08e02|StdOut)} - this is one of the tasks that runs - this is the output for the job
You can see some of the variables I have do NOT have an ID. You can do some shorthand here with things like "{JOB(Active|" and {TASK(PrevTask|". This helps with cloning one job to another
You take all of the variable stuff you want and in an email task, add that to the Email Send - Text section
I would start with what I have above. Let me know what questions you have. It will take some trial and error to get what you want out of it. My suggestion, make an easy job and send yourself the variables in an email. Pick a job, like a file copy for example, that you can replicate over and over while you play with the emails.
