private void validateAndStoreData(SizeMetricApiRequestData request,
String dataPrefix) {
// parse and validate the supplied parameter values
StringData description = getDescription(request);
StringData sizeUnits = getSizeUnits(request);
DoubleData actSize = getActualSize(request);
// store them into the data repository
putData(request, dataPrefix + "/" + DESCRIPTION_ELEM, description);
putData(request, dataPrefix + "/" + UNITS_ELEM, sizeUnits);
putData(request, dataPrefix + "/" + ACT_SIZE_ELEM, actSize);