In TestStand, you can define custom step properties, sequence local variables, sequence file global variables, and station global variables. Because the TestStand API is independent of the variables and custom step properties you define, these variables and properties are dynamic with respect to the TestStand API. The TestStand API provides the PropertyObject class so you can access dynamic properties and variables from within code modules, where you use lookup strings to identify specific properties by name.

To access dynamic properties of an object, you must first use the AsPropertyObject method of the object to convert the specific object reference to a PropertyObject reference. Then, use the PropertyObject interface to access custom properties of the object. The PropertyObject interface uses a lookup string to specify the specific custom property.

The block diagram in the following figure shows how to use the GetValString method on the PropertyObject interface of a Step object to obtain the error message value for the current step.

You can use the TestStand - Get Property Value VI or the TestStand - Set Property Value VI to access dynamic properties of a SequenceContext object. The block diagram in the following figure shows how to use the TestStand - Get Property Value VI to obtain the error message value for the current step.