All functionality provided by the Data Streams step types is available through the TestStand API. The step types themselves are implemented directly on top of this API. If you encounter situations too complex for the built-in step types, you can supplement them with direct calls to the API. Alternatively, you can forgo the built-in step types altogether, building your own custom step types or using the API directly.

For example, the built-in step types provide a convenient way to skip over metadata at the top of a CSV file, allowing you to read the main data table in a for each loop. Instead of skipping over the metadata, you can read it using the API. The API also supports custom separator characters, whereas the built-in step types do not expose this functionality.