A LispWorks client can open a conversation by using dde-connect, which takes a service designator and a topic designator as its arguments. If successful, a conversation object is returned which can be used to refer to the conversation. Conversations are closed by the LispWorks client at the end of a transaction by using dde-disconnect.
Another method for managing conversations uses with-dde-conversation to bind a conversation with a server across a body of code. If no conversation is available for with-dde-conversation, then one is automatically opened. The code is executed and the conversation is closed after the body of code exits.