org-log-note-headings 'state

[John J Foerch <jjfoerch@earthlink.net>]

Hello,

I'm writing an extension for org-mode wherein it would be incredibly
convenient to be able to parse the state changes inside of LOGBOOK
drawers to get the state-names and timestamps.  However, I find that
state changes are currently only parsable in an ad hoc manner, as for
example by org-agenda-log-mode.  The docsting of org-log-note-headings
mentions this:

  "In fact, it is not a good idea to change the `state' entry, because
  agenda log mode depends on the format of these entries."

It is disappointing to me that the state entry of org-log-note-headings
is not safely user-configurable because of this.  Personally, I do like
to configure it to something a little cleaner and easier to read,
("State -> %s  %d").  (I haven't yet used org-agenda-log-mode, so haven't
run into the problems warned of in the docstring.)  If I were to do ad
hoc parsing of state changes in the mode I'm writing, I would have to
give up my local configuration of the state entry of org-log-note-headings.

These thoughts lead me to suggest that maybe org-log-note-headings is no
longer sufficient to its original purpose, because extensions wish to
parse state changes, but that blocks users from configuring the formats.
Perhaps it is time to replace it with something that guarantees ability
to parse.

Thoughts?

-- 
John Foerch