I see, so it would be like utilizing a truth table to determine a set number of states and how said machine is to behave, so say, if power is lost or it is stopped mid-cycle i can read a state and pick up where it left off.
I think it would be a bit off to compare a fsm to a truth table, unless your truth table is a table of states.
One problem that I see with a truth table comparison is that several states can have the same TRUTH LOGIC, but depending in the specific state condition/transition logic, a totally different *target* state may be required.
A state machine is more like a *sequence* of states and transitions(conditional logic) that allows the machine *sequencer* to index to another step.
The term *sequence* is not exactly correct in that any valid state can be transitioned to from any other state -- depending on the origin STATE, target state and transition logic.
In the image, you can see that state 1 can transition to state 2 OR state 6 depending on the transition logic (IN = 'n').
State 2 can transition to state 3 OR state 6 (IN = 'i').
(if the picture does not show- see link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Fsm_parsing_word_nice.svg)
Now imagine that we are looking for the series of characters t r o t.
States 1 and 4 are looking for the same character (transition logic) but will have different target states - since states 1 and 4 have different state conditions.
State 1 condition - "START"
State 1 transition logic (= 't')
-true : goto to state 2
-false : goto state 6
State 2 condition - "found initial t"
State 2 transition logic (= 'r')
-true : goto to state 3
-false : goto state 6
State 3 condition - "found 'r'"
State 3 transition logic (= 'o')
-true : goto to state 4
-false : goto state 6
State 4 condition - "found 'o'"
State 4 transition logic (= 't')
-true : goto to state 7
-false : goto state 6
Whether you could use it as a *resume from power off* would depend on your process. The mid-cycle stop may be a good candidate where the stopping is just an inhibit of a transition from one state to another state.