Visio 2000/2003 Error Messages

It is highly likely that the problems you are encountering result from trying to use versions of Visio that are two generations apart (the progression is Visio 2000-->Visio 2002-->Visio 2003-->Visio 2007).

But before I get to that, there is one MS Knowledge Base article that mentions error #2135 (from your Visio 2003 error message) that you might want to look at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289868. Probably doesn't apply but I thought I'd pass it along.

-- The Visio 2000 error probably results from changes in the organization chart add-in between Visio 2000 and Visio 2003. vsl files ("Organization Chart.vsl" in your message) are add-ins that provide extra capabilities to Visio. The org chart add-in might just have a different file name and, therefore, the Visio 2003 filename can't be located by Visio 2000. Or it could be a deeper compatiblity issue.

You *might* be able to open this file in Visio 2000 if the Visio 2003 user does a "Save As..." and selects Visio 2002 file format instead of just saving the document in the usual way. Keep in mind, however, that while Microsoft typically offers upward compatibility (well, most of the time anyway :-) ), moving backwards is always a gamble.

-- The Visio 2003 error probably results from the significant changes Microsoft made to the underlying Visio file structure between Visio 2002 and 2003. In theory, Visio 2000 and Visio 2002 have the same file structure (refer to http://visio.mvps.org/History.htm and scroll down the history to find the year 2002). It follows then, that Visio 2003 *should* also be able to open a Visio 2000 drawing.

But the issue is clouded considerably if the drawing has made even one round trip from 2000/2002 to 2003 and back. For example, We encountered a number of compatibility issues after the release of Visio 2003 and always recommended that our customers use only one version of Visio.


I hope some of the above helps -- let me know if there's anything else I can do.

Scott