When an activation group is deleted, its resources are reclaimed. The resources include static storage and open files. A *NEW activation group is deleted when the program it is associated with returns to its caller.
Named activation groups (such as QILE) are persistent activation groups in that they are not deleted unless explicitly deleted or unless the job ends. The storage associated with programs running in named activation groups is not released until these activation groups are deleted.
An ILE RPG program created DFTACTGRP(*YES) will have its storage released when it ends with LR on or abnormally.
If many ILE RPG programs are activated (that is called at least once) system storage may be exhausted. Therefore, you should avoid having ILE programs that use large amounts of static storage run in the OPM default activation group, since the storage will not be reclaimed until the job ends.
The storage associated with a service program is reclaimed only when the activation group it is associated with ends. If the service program is called into the default activation group, its resources are reclaimed when the job ends.
You can delete a named activation group using the RCLACTGRP command. Use this command to delete a nondefault activation group that is not in use. The command provides options to either delete all eligible activation groups or to delete an activation group by name.
For more information on the RCLACTGRP command, refer to the see the CL and APIs section of the Programming category in the i5/OS Information Center at this Web site - http://www.ibm.com/systems/i/infocenter/. For more information on the RCLACTGRP and activation groups, refer to ILE Concepts.