Separting form validation in separate function

[eluser]maulik13[/eluser]
Hi,

I have been working with CI for some time now and I am wondering if I can separate form validation into a separate function. For example,

Code:

private function _ShowEditForm($formData){
    $data = array();
    $data = $data + $formData;
    ...
    $data['submitlink'] = "downloads/validate";
    $this->data["content_html"] = $this->load->view("download-add-view", $data, TRUE);
    $this->_DisplayPage();
}

public function Validate(){
    // validation
    $data = array();
    $data['dwn_name'] = $this->input->post('inDwnName');
    $data['dwn_link'] = $this->input->post('inDwnLink');
    $data['dwn_desc'] = $this->input->post('inDwnDesc');
    
    $this->form_validation->set_rules("inDwnName", "User Email", "trim|required");
    if($this->form_validation->run())
    {
        // success //
        // add data or check custom validation //
    }
    else{
        $this->ShowForm($data);
    }
        
}

However, with this code set_value('') does not work in my form. It works if I keep the validation in the same function which displays the form (like in user guide example).

Can anyone give me an idea of what could I do to separate validation in a function and make set_value work or what kind of other approach I can take to re-populate the forms?

Thanks.