This read-only variable displays the current transmit state of the LAN port as follows: 'initializing': A transient state lasting a few milliseconds after startup. 'on': A second transient state immediately following initializing. 'pre-forwarding 1': The first half of the pre- forwarding interval. Initial Spanning Tree packets traverse the network and the root is elected. No learning or forwarding takes place. 'pre-forwarding 2': The second half of the pre- forwarding interval. The bridge listens to packets on the network and learning begins, but no forwarding takes place. 'forwarding': The normal Spanning Tree operating state. The bridge forwards frames on this link and learns from received frames. 'dls forwarding': The normal DLS operating state. This link is treated as forwarding for Spanning Tree calculations, but the link is participating in VitalinkUs proprietary Distributed Load Sharing (DLS) algorithm. Certain user traffic can traverse the link. 'backup': Hot standby state. No bridged user traffic is forwarded. The link transmits and receives only certain network management frames that determine if the port should remain in backup or if it should transition to pre- forwarding. 'dls backup': This link is treated as backup for Spanning Tree calculations, but the link is participating in VitalinkUs proprietary Distributed Load Sharing algorithm. Certain user traffic can traverse the link. 'off': Offline. No traffic may pass on this link, and the line is not used for any internal computations. 'disabled': The Disable switch (screen /2/n/2) was on when the bridge was initialized. Only certain network management frames are transmitted. No user traffic is forwarded and no learning takes place on this link. 'broken': Communication is not possible over this link. Spanning Tree Protocol computations consider broken links in order to calculate the root priority.