validating non form data

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
Hi ... I would like up upload a data file, then open that data file, read off the data, and finally validate that data before uploading it into a database table.

I know how to use the form_validation class to validate form data. But I can't figure out how to use the form_validation class to validate the data I've read from a file!

(I'm hoping I can use the form_validation class for this ... it would be tragic if I'd have to write my own validation routines just for this stupid file data!

thanks!