diff --git a/gramps2/ChangeLog b/gramps2/ChangeLog
index 3ff2e46e6..03adfca40 100644
--- a/gramps2/ChangeLog
+++ b/gramps2/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+2005-05-30  Martin Hawlisch  <Martin.Hawlisch@gmx.de>
+	* src/ArgHandler.py (handle_args) Exit if opening a file failed
+	* src/Errors.py: New exception type "FileVersionError"
+	* src/GrampsDbBase.py (version_supported): New method
+	* src/GrampsBSDDB.py (version_supported): New method
+	* src/gramps_main.py (read_file) catch FileVersionError;
+	(post_load): only load if version_supported()
+	* src/ReadGrdb.py (importData): only load if version_supported()
+	
 2005-05-30  Matt Brubeck  <mbrubeck@cs.hmc.edu>
 	* src/DbPrompter.py: fix handling of spaces when creating a new
 	file - use open instead of "touch"
diff --git a/gramps2/src/ArgHandler.py b/gramps2/src/ArgHandler.py
index 08e4dba86..8cade7600 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/ArgHandler.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/ArgHandler.py
@@ -304,6 +304,8 @@ class ArgHandler:
                 # Add the file to the recent items
                 RecentFiles.recent_files(filename,filetype)
                 self.parent.build_recent_menu()
+            else:
+                os._exit(1)
             return
            
         if self.open:
diff --git a/gramps2/src/Errors.py b/gramps2/src/Errors.py
index 0763e555c..cc890f35f 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/Errors.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/Errors.py
@@ -90,3 +90,15 @@ class GConfSchemaError(Exception):
 
     def __str__(self):
         return self.value
+
+class FileVersionError(Exception):
+    """
+    Error used to report that a file could not be read because
+    it is written in an unsupported version of the file format.
+    """
+    def __init__(self,value):
+        Exception.__init__(self)
+        self.value = value
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return self.value
diff --git a/gramps2/src/GrampsBSDDB.py b/gramps2/src/GrampsBSDDB.py
index 1605d2828..4f49ba817 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/GrampsBSDDB.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/GrampsBSDDB.py
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ class GrampsBSDDB(GrampsDbBase):
     def get_media_cursor(self):
         return GrampsBSDDBCursor(self.media_map)
 
+    def version_supported(self):
+        return self.metadata.get('version',0) <= _DBVERSION
+    
     def need_upgrade(self):
         return not self.readonly and self.metadata.get('version',0) < _DBVERSION
 
@@ -407,6 +410,7 @@ class GrampsBSDDB(GrampsDbBase):
             "Sponsored", "Foster", "Unknown", "Other", ]
         
         version = self.metadata.get('version',0)
+
         if version < 2:
             self.upgrade_2(child_rel_notrans)
         if version < 3:
diff --git a/gramps2/src/GrampsDbBase.py b/gramps2/src/GrampsDbBase.py
index 618559e82..3e3b465f7 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/GrampsDbBase.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/GrampsDbBase.py
@@ -191,6 +191,10 @@ class GrampsDbBase(GrampsDBCallback.GrampsDBCallback):
         self.place2title = {}
         self.name_group = {}
 
+    def version_supported(self):
+        """ Returns True when the file has a supported version"""
+        return True
+
     def need_upgrade(self):
         return False
 
diff --git a/gramps2/src/ReadGrdb.py b/gramps2/src/ReadGrdb.py
index 11e1cf44a..e3a001545 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/ReadGrdb.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/ReadGrdb.py
@@ -59,7 +59,16 @@ def importData(database, filename, callback=None,cl=0,use_trans=True):
         else:
             ErrorDialog(_("%s could not be opened") % filename)
         return
-    
+    if not other_database.version_supported():
+        if cl:
+            print "Error: %s could not be opened.\n%s  Exiting." % (filename,\
+                        _("The database version is not supported by this version of GRAMPS.\n"\
+                          "Please upgrade to the corresponding version or use XML for porting data between different database versions."))
+        else:
+            ErrorDialog(_("%s could not be opened") % filename,
+                        _("The Database version is not supported by this version of GRAMPS."))
+        return
+        
     # Check for duplicate handles. At the moment we simply exit here,
     # before modifying any data. In the future we will need to handle
     # this better.
diff --git a/gramps2/src/gramps_main.py b/gramps2/src/gramps_main.py
index cc1972cfe..8ca3d0665 100755
--- a/gramps2/src/gramps_main.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/gramps_main.py
@@ -1291,7 +1291,7 @@ class Gramps(GrampsDBCallback.GrampsDBCallback):
                 ErrorDialog(_('Cannot open database'),
                             _('The database file specified could not be opened.'))
                 return 0
-        except ( IOError, OSError ), msg:
+        except ( IOError, OSError, Errors.FileVersionError), msg:
             ErrorDialog(_('Cannot open database'),str(msg))
             return 0
         except (db.DBAccessError,db.DBError), msg:
@@ -1743,6 +1743,11 @@ class Gramps(GrampsDBCallback.GrampsDBCallback):
             gtk.main_iteration()
         
     def post_load(self,name,callback=None):
+        if not self.db.version_supported():
+            raise Errors.FileVersionError(
+                    "The database version is not supported by this version of GRAMPS.\n"
+                    "Please upgrade to the corresponding version or use XML for porting data between different database versions.")
+        
         self.db.set_save_path(name)
         res = self.db.get_researcher()
         owner = GrampsCfg.get_researcher()