Operating with various versions

[Grumman-581]

I'm currently working for a company where not everyone has the same version
of Visio, but we need to collaborate on various Visio files... We have some
people using v4.5, some using v5.0, and some using the v2003 Enterprise
Architect version... I've downloaded the trial version of v2003, but it
doesn't integrate all the various formats either... It seems that v2003 will
allow you to save to a v2002 format and v2002 will allow you to save to a v5
and v5 will allow you to save to a v4 format... A lot of people are still
using v4.5 since it does everything that we need it to do, but it sucks to
have to go through multiple versions of Visio each time it needs to be
converted... On top of this, even if we copy the v2002 system stencil files
to the machines with the older versions, they cannot open the original
drawing since the system has versioning information even in the stencil
files, thus we have to resave the stencil files on the v2002 machine in v5
format, go into Visio v5.0 and resave them again in v4 format... So, is
there any converter available that will allow for easy saving of a drawing
in all the various formats?

One more question... Visio v4.5 appears to be a true 32-bit application
whereas v5.0 appears to be a 16-bit one utilizing the WOW VDM mechansim...
Why the backwards step when the version INCREASED?

 

[Mark Nelson [MS]]

No, there is no converter that will take any format of Visio file and
convert it to any other format. Each version of Visio is designed to open
files created in all previous versions. Generally Save As is restricted to
the previous file format. You should be especially careful saving back from
Visio 2002 to v5. In that span of two releases a significant number of
changes were made to the way shapes are constructed. This puts you at a
much higher risk for data loss simply because Visio 5 does not support all
the shape properties and behaviors that Visio 2002 does.

If you are looking for a common file format, Visio 2000, 2002 and Visual
Studio 2003 Enterprise Architect with Visio all use the same file format.
Note that Visio 2003 is a separate product from VS 2003 EA and is a more
recent release. It has a separate file format from these other versions.

 

[Dave]

The good news is I found the answer to my question. The
bad news is that yet again Visio disapoints in its ability
to support users with other versions. I don't have the
problem the other user had. I am running one version back
(2002) and I thought vendors had figured out how important
it is to not put customers into a deadlock situation. I
guess I was wrong. Oh yeah, I bet the answer is that
because we had so many important new feature we just
couldn't support file compatibility.

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

Maintaining multiple versions is always an issue, but Visio 4c was released
in early 1996, so is over eight years old. If the Visio 4c users need to
look at (not modify) then an appropriate solution for these users is to use
the viewer. Anything created by the Visio 4c users can be opened in Visio
2003. Due to hardware issues, I still run Visio 3 under Windows 3.11 on my
sub notebook and I can still open these drawings in Visio 2003.

On the downside, anything older than Visio 2000 SR1 no longer qualifies for
an update, so the only way to upgrade these users is to buy full copies.

Visio 4, 4.0b, 4.0c, 4.1 and 4.5 were released as 16 and 32 bit
applications. The installation procedure determined which to install. Visio
5 was the first version released as a 32 bit only version of Visio.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm