structure_level OpenVMS usage:longword_unsigned type: longword (unsigned) access: read only mechanism: by reference Version of the symbiont/job controller interface. The structure_ level argument is the address of a longword containing the version of the symbiont/job controller interface used when the symbiont was compiled. Always place the value of the symbol SMBMSG$K_STRUCTURE_LEVEL in the longword addressed by this argument. Each programming language provides an appropriate mechanism for defining symbols. ast_routine OpenVMS usage:ast_procedure type: procedure value access: read only mechanism: by reference Message-handling routine called at AST level. The ast_routine argument is the address of the entry point of the message- handling routine to be called at AST level when the symbiont receives a message from the job controller. The AST routine is called with no parameters and returns no value. If an AST routine is specified, the routine is called once each time the symbiont receives a message from the job controller. The AST routine typically reads the message and determines if immediate action must be taken. Be aware that an AST can be delivered only while the symbiont is operating at non-AST level. Thus, to ensure delivery of messages from the job controller, the symbiont should not perform lengthy operations at AST level. If you do not specify the ast_routine argument, the symbiont must call the SMB$CHECK_FOR_MESSAGE routine to check for waiting messages. streams OpenVMS usage:longword_unsigned type: longword (unsigned) access: read only mechanism: by reference Maximum number of streams the symbiont is to support. The streams argument is the address of a longword containing the number of streams that the symbiont is to support. The number must be in the range of 1 to 32. If you do not specify this argument, a default value of 1 is used. Thus, by default, a symbiont supports one stream. Such a symbiont is called a single-threaded symbiont. A stream (or thread) is a logical link between a queue and a symbiont. When a symbiont is linked to more than one queue, and serves those queues simultaneously, it is called a multithreaded symbiont.