The transition datatype descripes a transition from the current state to a new target state. The transition may declare a nested operation that will be invoked prior to the application of the state transition. A side effect of a state transtion is that active state will be changed to the target of the transition which in-turn changes the defintion of the active state path (the set of states from the root to the activie state). This will typically result in changes to available transition and management operations.