After a task terminates, the task variable associated with it continues to exist until the parent exits the block that contains the task variable declaration. As long as the task variable exists, the parent can use it to interrogate the final task attribute values of the task. By interrogating history-related task attributes, the parent can find out whether the task terminated normally.

On the other hand, the history of a job cannot be interrogated through task attributes. The task variable of a job can be accessed only by the job itself and its descendants, and the descendants cannot survive the termination of the job.