// get meta data object from the selected string.
GenericMetadata metadata = filterDialog.getFilterDomain()
.getMetaDataFromFieldType(firstComboBoxSelectedItem);
// Validate the values.
metadata.validate(freeTextAtRow);
} catch (FilterValidationException filterValidationException) {
errorStrings.add(filterValidationException.getMessage());
}
FilterCriterionImpl filterCriteria = filterDialog.getFilterContext().getFilterCriterion(i);
filterCriteria.setValueFreeText(freeTextAtRow);