One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for validating a set of input data used by a software application, the method comprising: determining a first validation class for a first portion of the set of input data; determining a first validation operation to be performed on the first portion of the set of input data based on the first validation class; causing the first validation operation to be performed on the first portion of the set of input data; determining that the first validation operation is unsuccessful; and generating a validation report indicating that the set of input data includes an error.