Accelr8 Open DCL Lite and Michel Valentin's PC-DCL can coexist and they each can utilize the other's native capabilities.
When Open DCL Lite is used as the primary shell, Valentin's PC-DCL can be installed along side Open DCL Lite and be used to occasionally execute a single PC-DCL command or PC-DCL script to extend the functionality of DCL Lite. A notable example would be to execute a script that involved the PC-DCL's OPEN / CLOSE / READ / WRITE facilities.
When PC-DCL is used as the primary shell, Accelr8 Open DCL Lite can be installed along side PC-DCL and be used to occasionally execute a single DCL Lite command or DCL Lite script to extend the functionality of PC-DCL. Notable examples might be to execute a DCL Lite SEARCH command, or to run one of the many scripts that you've designed for Open DCL Lite (and now adapted to handle PC-DCL peculiarities).
A little more detailed description of these extension capabilities follows:
Open DCL Lite can be extended by:
opening a new PC-DCL window for interactive input of PC-DCL commands (until the LOGOUT command is issued),
executing a single PC-DCL command in a new PC-DCL window which executes the command, then awaits for more interactive input of PC-DCL commands (until the LOGOUT command is issued),
executing a PC-DCL script in a new PC-DCL window, then automatically closing that window after the script finishes.
The new PC-DCL windows can be opened to be completely detached or they can be opened to "hang" further Open DCL Lite use in the calling window until the new PC-DCL window is closed (either by being automatically closed -- the 3rd case -- or by issuing the LOGOUT command -- the first 2 cases).
PC-DCL can be extended by Open DCL Lite by:
opening a DCL Lite session "on top of" the existing PC-DCL session, without specifying any input DCL Lite command or script, then exiting the new DCL Lite session by typing LOGOFF and returning to the PC-DCL prompt within the same window [this is generally useless],
executing a single DCL Lite command "on top of" the existing PC-DCL session then automatically exiting the new DCL Lite session and returning to the PC-DCL prompt within the same window,
executing a DCL Lite script "on top of" the existing PC-DCL session then automatically exiting the new DCL Lite session and returning to the PC-DCL prompt within the same window,
opening a new DCL Lite window for interactive input of DCL Lite commands (until the LOGOUT command is issued),
executing a single DCL Lite command in a new DCL Lite window which automatically disappears after the command is executed,
executing a DCL Lite script in a new DCL Lite window which automatically disappears after the script is executed.
The first three cases "hang" the calling PC-DCL window until the new DCL Lite session is closed (either by being automatically closed -- the 2nd and 3rd cases -- or by issuing the LOGOUT command -- the 1st case). The 2nd and 3rd cases can be quite useful, since they automatically exit the DCL Lite session and any DCL Lite output will remain visible in the PC-DCL window. However, the 1st case is generally useless, since the PC-DCL I/O and the DCL Lite I/O get confused such that the DCL Lite prompts do not appear until after a DCL Lite command is issued to respond to the not-yet-displayed prompt. I advise never using the 1st case.
In the last 3 cases, the new DCL Lite window is completely detached, so the calling PC-DCL window can continue to issue PC-DCL commands while the new DCL window is open (even for days at a time).
For more Open DCL Lite and PC-DCL information, either start at the jonesrh.info Open DCL Lite portal, or jump right in to one of these other pages:
See Why I Use Open DCL Lite for an introduction to the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program, software emulators that can run OpenVMS (and hence OpenVMS DCL), DCL implementations that run on Windows and/or Linux, Accelr8's Open DCL Lite, Valentin's PC-DCL, reasons why I opted to use Open DCL Lite and augment it with PC-DCL, explanations of products and terms involving VMS and DCL, and a list of OpenVMS and Accelr8 Open DCL Lite references.
See Pros and Cons of Accelr8 Open DCL Lite v2.21 for a comparison of Open DCL Lite with: a) OpenVMS DCL, b) Transoft/Advanced's full commercial grade Open DCL, and c) some alternative utilities.
See Comparison of PC-DCL vs. Open DCL Lite to see why I consider Open DCL Lite to be superior to PC-DCL as a "day in and day out" DCL implementation, but how PC-DCL can be used to provide some functionality which Open DCL Lite is missing.
See Downloading and Installing Accelr8 Open DCL Lite to download and evaluate Accelr8 Open DCL Lite, then check out its UCOM:*.BAT section to get a very brief overview of the jonesrh_dcl_lite_scripts_ecosystem.zip supplied UCOM: scripts that facilitate DCL Lite / PC-DCL mutual extensibility.