Symbiont

A symbiont is a piece of software that transfers data to be printed to an output device. OpenVMS provides a standard print symbiont named PRTSMB which prints files on hardcopy devices. Other examples of symbionts include TELNETSYM, LATSYM, NULLSYM and others including user-written symbionts. Symbionts are stored as .EXE files in SYS$SYSTEM and are specified when creating a print queue.

List of OpenVMS Symbionts

Symbionts written for OpenVMS include:

• PRTSMB
• LATSYM
• NULLSYM
• TELNETSYM (UCX$TELNETSYM or TCPIP$TELNETSYM)

Telnetsym is a modified version of an OpenVMS symbiont that understands IP and as such, it understands all of the standard OpenVMS symbiont functions. A telnetsym queue can be created from the DCL prompt. For TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS, V4.2 or lower, the symbiont name is UCX$TELNETSYM. For TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS, V5.0 or higher the symbiont name is TCPIP$TELNETSYM.

• LPR and LPD symbionts
• TCPware symbiont

See also

• How to Debug an OpenVMS Printer Using Telnetsym