These directories contain saved files generated by any unexpected termination of an editor (e.g., elvis, jove, nvi).
Other editors may not require a directory for crash-recovery files, but may require a well-defined place to store other information while the editor is running. This information should be stored in a subdirectory under /var/state (for example, GNU Emacs would place lock files in /var/state/emacs/lock).
Future editors may require additional state information beyond crash-recovery files and lock files -- this information should also be placed under /var/state/<editor>.
Previous Linux releases, as well as all commercial vendors, use /var/preserve for vi or its clones. However, each editor uses its own format for these crash-recovery files, so a separate directory is needed for each editor.
Editor-specific lock files are usually quite different from the device or resource lock files that are stored in /var/lock and, hence, are stored under /var/state.