gnats/364: Manual not up-to-date regarding states file

[Hans-Albert]

>Number:         364
>Category:       gnats
>Synopsis:       Manual not up-to-date regarding states file
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       serious
>Priority:       high
>Responsible:    unassigned
>State:          open
>Class:          doc-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Tue Mar 26 05:58:59 -0500 2002
>Originator:     Hans-Albert Schneider
>Release:        3.999.1
>Organization:
GNATS FAQ maintainer
>Environment:
any
>Description:
The manual section "The states file" still describes
the 3.xxx states file.  Notably, the new field "type"
is not mentioned.
Furthermore, the semantics have slightly changed: the last
state mentioned need not be *named* "closed" anymore (*1), 
but needs to be of *type* closed (this is enforced, according
to the states file).
Similarly, the first state mentioned in the states file need
not be named "open" anymore (*1); it is the default state
for new PRs. It was not completely clear to me what is meant
by "default": Does this refer to the default installation,
i.e., can dbconfig define a different initail state?
Or is this refering to a scenario where a new PR already
bears a >State: field when it arrives?

Concerning the "type" field itself: the comments in file
states mention that two types ("open" and "closed") exist.
Please make clear whether something internally depends on
these two types, whether and how additional types can
be defined (just mention them in the file?), and what they
are useful for (transition logic like setting the
"Closed-Date"; more?).

(*1) To be precise, 3.1xx did not *require* the first and
last states given in gnats-adm/states to be called "open"
and "closed", but strongly suggested that for compatibility
reasons (some clients may expect...).
>How-To-Repeat:

>Fix:
Check with comments in the states and dbconfig files.
>Unformatted: