Integrated Language Environment® (ILE) introduces the concept of activation groups that run within jobs on the iSeries™ server.
An activation group is a substructure of a runtime job. It consists of server resources (storage for program or procedure variables, commitment definitions, and open files) allocated to one or more programs. An activation group is like a miniature job within a job. By default, all DDM conversations are scoped to the activation group level. To scope is to specify the boundary within which server resources can be used. Programs that run in different activation groups start separate DDM conversations when they use the same DDM file or the same remote location information. Sharing of existing DDM conversations takes place within the confines of the activation group. A DDM conversation can be scoped to the job level by specifying OPNSCOPE(*JOB) on the OPNDBF command.