--- a/artifact-database/src/main/java/de/intevation/artifactdatabase/state/AbstractState.java	Fri Feb 04 08:55:17 2011 +0000
+++ b/artifact-database/src/main/java/de/intevation/artifactdatabase/state/AbstractState.java	Fri Feb 04 10:50:53 2011 +0000
@@ -10,11 +10,15 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
+import javax.xml.xpath.XPathConstants;
+
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
 import org.w3c.dom.Node;
 
 import de.intevation.artifacts.CallContext;
 
+import de.intevation.artifacts.common.utils.XMLUtils;
+
 import de.intevation.artifactdatabase.data.StateData;
 
 
@@ -26,6 +30,15 @@
  */
 public abstract class AbstractState implements State {
 
+    /** The XPath to the ID of the state relative to the state node in the
+     * configuration. */
+    public static final String XPATH_ID = "@id";
+
+    /** The XPath to the description of the state relative to the state node in
+     * the configuration. */
+    public static final String XPATH_DESCRIPTION = "@description";
+
+
     /** The ID of the state. */
     protected String id;
 
@@ -115,12 +128,16 @@
 
 
     /**
-     * Initialize the state based on the state node in the configuration. This
-     * method needs to be implemented by concrete subclasses.
+     * Initialize the state based on the state node in the configuration.
      *
      * @param config The state configuration node.
      */
-    public abstract void setup(Node config);
+    public void setup(Node config) {
+        id = (String) XMLUtils.xpath(config, XPATH_ID, XPathConstants.STRING);
+
+        description = (String) XMLUtils.xpath(
+            config, XPATH_DESCRIPTION, XPathConstants.STRING);
+    }
 
 
     /**