- When the service routine is vectored to, hardware clears the flag that generated an external interrupt only if the interrupt was transition activated. If the interrupt was level-activated, then the external requesting source (rather than the on-chip hardware) controls the request flag

No need to drop "the bible" in the can. Just read it with some sense attached. There is no conflict except with language. The above could equally well have been written:

When the service routine is vectored to, hardware clears the flag that generated an external interrupt . If the interrupt was level-activated, it will, of course, immediately set again. Thus in the level activated case it seems that the bit is not reset.

It does not take a genius to realize that a level activated interrupt will not clear till the level is restored to no int.

Erik