Error -2503 When Trying to Open a TDMS File

Issue Details

• I saved my measurement data in a TDMS file and when I now try to open it in DIAdem I am not able to open it. I got displayed the error "Cannot load the file "<filepath>" with the loader "TDMS". Further information: "TDS Exception in Initialize: Tds Error: TdsErrNotTdsFile(-2503):"

• I have a TDMS file that would open up in LabVIEW 2009 or before without problems. When I try to open the same file in LabVIEW 2010 I get this error: "Error -2503: Specified file does not comply with the TDMS file format standards."
• I have a TDMS file that I want to open in LabVIEW 2011 and newer and see the same issue. "Error -2503 occurred at TDMS Open in myVi. Possible reason(s): LabVIEW: (Hex 0xFFFFF639) Specified file does not comply with the TDMS file format standards."

 

Solution

Depending on the LabVIEW version you are using there are different things you can try. When you see this error when using LabVIEW 2010/2010 SP1 it could be due to a known issue with LabVIEW 2010/2010 SP1, when you use LabVIEW in a newer version or try to open it in DIAdem it can be a corrupt file. 

• Using LabVIEW 2010 or LabVIEW  2010 SP1:

1. Download and unzip the attached TDMS Repair Tool.zip. Make sure files have been extracted.
2. Download and install LabVIEW Runtime Engine version 2010, 32-bit 
3. Run the extracted executable as administrator (right-click on the executable and select Run as Administrator) and select the TDMS file that is causing the error.

• Using LabVIEW 2011 or newer or DIAdem it is highly probable that the TDMS file is corrupt. You can try the following to fix or extract the data:

1. Delete the TDMS Index file (*.tdms_index file) and try again to open the file.
2. Try to open the file with LabVIEW TDMS File Viewer.vi  
3. Convert TDMS file to Text File in LabVIEW
4. Try to open the TDMS file with TDM Excel Add-In for Microsoft Excel
5. If this doesn't work, you can use a third-party file analyzer tool to get access to your data, for example FileAlyzer or a text editor like Notepad++

Additional Information

• This is a known issue with the TDMS.dll that is installed with LabVIEW 2010. This can happen if the TDMS index file is more than 10MB and it contains some TDMS segments without any metadata. 
• TDMS files automatically generate a complimentary *.tdms_index file. to speeds up read access to the data on larger data sets. This index file is not required for storage or distribution and automatically regenerates when a TDMS file is opened.