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Written by Ryan Dube
July 28, 2010
(http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/author/ryandube/)
Most Windows users know about the Windows Task Scheduler (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-automate-windows-programs-ona-schedule) by now. In this article, Im going to show you how you can use Windows Task Scheduler in combination with the awesome
SendEmail (http://caspian.dotconf.net/menu/Software/SendEmail/) SMTP command-line tool to send off scheduled, automated emails that
include multiple attachments.
Linux users have been using the sendmail command for ages, so this isnt really new to them, but the Windows compatible SendEmail
tool is something that lets Windows users have the same sort of command-line functionality. Once you have the executable sitting in a
directory like this, as long as you know the syntax, you can do a lot of cool stuff with the tool.
When you issue the SendEmail command at the command prompt (or run it from an application), you have to follow it with a number of
parameters. The critical ones that we are concerned with are shown in the examples below.
-f xxxxx@gmail.com
-t rdube@yahoo.com
Let's go
These are all of the parameters youll need to complete the task that Im detailing in this article. Once youve downloaded the SendEmail.exe
file to your computer, youre ready to use Windows Task Scheduler to issue your SendEmail automated email command every day, week, or
month.
This will walk you through the task scheduling wizard, where you can assign any calendar schedule youd like for these emails to get sent.
On the next screen, select Start a Program and then youll see the screen where you need to set up the task. This is where youll enter the
path for your SendEmail executable and the parameters.
-f xxxxx@gmail.com -u Monday Status Updates -m Heres the analytics data for this week! -a Analytics_Channel1.csv -t
Refer back to the parameter list above, but as you can see this sends out an email from your Gmail account to a recipient who has a Yahoo
account with a subject line, Heres the analytics data for this week! When this task runs (which will run every week), it fires off your
message and attaches the file attachments that youve defined your parameters above.
This is what the received email looks like.
As you can see, theres no indication that it comes from an automated script. Instead, it has a personal message and the necessary
data/information files attached to the email. So long as you make sure the files are updated before this email goes out, youll never have to
worry about forgetting to send out another one of these status updates again. You can look as though youre being extremely productive.
Meanwhile, you can work on Saikats approach to being a procrastination ninja (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-tools-procrastinationninja-work/)!
Have you ever used the command-line SendEmail tool for Windows? Or maybe you have a different method for sending out automated
emails? Share your own insight about this tool or other similar tools in the comments section below.
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