Can Dia open Visio .vsd files ?
Dia cannot open older Visio .vsd files. Unfortunately the Visio file format is a completely proprietary and undocumented file format. Therefore it is really difficult to write code to read it. Dia can open Visio’s XML format (VDX).
So with Visio 2002 and going forward since it is possible possible to export Visio diagrams as XMLor save them as XML then the easiest thing to do if possible is save your Visio file in the XML format and then open it with DIa.
The only other alternatives are if you have Visio 2003 or higher then you could convert the file to .SVG format. Dia can read and open the SVG format as well.
No, it can’t. Visio file format is a completely proprietary and undocumented file format. So it is really difficult to write code to read it. The now-defunct Software Bazaar offered a bounty of several thousand dollars for reverse-engineering the Visio format. We really would like to be able to do so. An easier alternative would be to make a Visio plug-in that will allow conversion. Other programs have already done this for their proprietary formats. If somebody were to make such a script, we could set up a public server to do conversions. With Visio 2002, it has become possible to export Visio diagrams as XML. Microsoft, in their infinite generosity, has even published the Schema. With the new XSLT plug-in, it should be only a question of writing a proper XSLT document to be able to translate. Ian Redfern is working on decoding the Visio format. If you have any interest in converting Visio files, please give him your assistance.
