a method to validate data used in a design of a semiconductor product currently in a partially fabricated state is disclosed . the partially fabricated state having a plurality of layers up to and including a first conductive layer . the method generally includes the steps of adding a second conductive layer from a user specification to an application set , the application set having a plurality of resources that define the semiconductor product , validating a new resource in the user specification against the resources in the application set , adding the new resource to the application set upon passing the validating and propagating the new resource throughout a description of the semiconductor product , the description being stored in a computer - readable medium .