$ST[ACK] contains an integer value of zero (0) or greater indicating the current level of M execution stack depth.

When a process is initiated but before any command is executed, the value of $STACK is zero (0).

	Note
	The difference between $STACK and $ESTACK is that $ESTACK may appear as an argument of the NEW command. NEWing $ESTACK resets its value to zero (0), and can be useful to set up a layered error trapping mechanism.

The value of $STACK is "absolute" since the start of a GT.M. process, whereas the value of $ESTACK is "relative" to the most recent "anchoring point".

For examples on the use of special variable $STACK, see “$STack()”.