Index: src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/OpenFileAction.java
===================================================================
--- src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/OpenFileAction.java	(revision 1584)
+++ src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/OpenFileAction.java	(working copy)
@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@
                 openAsData(file);
         } catch (SAXException x) {
             x.printStackTrace();
-            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(Main.parent, tr("Error while parsing {0}",file.getName())+": "+x.getMessage());
+            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(Main.parent, tr("Error while parsing {0}",file.getName())+": "+x.getMessage(), "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
         } catch (IOException x) {
             x.printStackTrace();
-            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(Main.parent, tr("Could not read \"{0}\"",file.getName())+"\n"+x.getMessage());
+            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(Main.parent, tr("Could not read \"{0}\"",file.getName())+"\n"+x.getMessage(),"Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
         }
     }
 
Index: src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/OsmReader.java
===================================================================
--- src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/OsmReader.java	(revision 1584)
+++ src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/OsmReader.java	(working copy)
@@ -205,21 +205,39 @@
                     // ---- PARSING RELATIONS ----
 
                     } else if (qName.equals("relation")) {
-//                         relationsN++;
                          current = new OsmPrimitiveData();
                          readCommon(atts, current);
                          relations.put((OsmPrimitiveData)current, new LinkedList<RelationMemberData>());
                     } else if (qName.equals("member")) {
-//                         membersN++;
                          Collection<RelationMemberData> list = relations.get(current);
                          if (list == null)
                               throw new SAXException(tr("Found <member> element in non-relation."));
                          RelationMemberData emd = new RelationMemberData();
                          emd.relationMember = new RelationMember();
-                         emd.id = getLong(atts, "ref");
-                         emd.type=atts.getValue("type");
-                         emd.relationMember.role = atts.getValue("role");
-
+                         String value = atts.getValue("ref");
+                         if (value == null) {
+                             throw new SAXException(tr("Missing attribute \"ref\" on member in relation {0}",current.id));
+                         }
+                         try {
+                             emd.id = Long.parseLong(value);
+                         } catch(NumberFormatException e) {
+                             throw new SAXException(tr("Illegal value for attribute \"ref\" on member in relation {0}, got {1}", Long.toString(current.id),value));
+                         }
+                         value = atts.getValue("type");
+                         if (value == null) {
+                             throw new SAXException(tr("Missing attribute \"type\" on member {0} in relation {1}", Long.toString(emd.id), Long.toString(current.id)));
+                         }
+                         if (! (value.equals("way") || value.equals("node") || value.equals("relation"))) {
+                             throw new SAXException(tr("Unexpected \"type\" on member {0} in relation {1}, got {2}.", Long.toString(emd.id), Long.toString(current.id), value));
+                         }
+                         emd.type= value;
+                         value = atts.getValue("role");
+                         if (value == null) {
+                             System.out.println(tr("WARNING: no attribute \"role\" on member {0} in relation {1}, assuming empty role \"\"",Long.toString(emd.id), Long.toString(current.id)));
+                             value = "";
+                         }
+                         emd.relationMember.role = value;
+                         
                          if (emd.id == 0)
                               throw new SAXException(tr("Incomplete <member> specification with ref=0"));
 
@@ -277,21 +295,21 @@
                current.visible = Boolean.parseBoolean(visible);
           }
 
-          // oldversion attribute added in 0.6 API
-
-          // Note there is an asymmetry here: the server will send
-          // the version as "version" the client sends it as
-          // "oldversion". So we take both since which we receive will
-          // depend on reading from a file or reading from the server
-
           String version = atts.getValue("version");
+          current.version = 0;
           if (version != null) {
-               current.version = Integer.parseInt(version);
+              try {
+                  current.version = Integer.parseInt(version);
+              } catch(NumberFormatException e) {
+                  throw new SAXException(tr("Illegal value for attribute \"version\" on OSM primitive with id {0}, got {1}", Long.toString(current.id), version));
+              }
+          } else {
+              // version expected for OSM primitives with an id assigned by the server
+              //
+              if (current.id > 0) {
+                  throw new SAXException(tr("Missing attribute \"version\" on OSM primitive with id {0}", Long.toString(current.id)));
+              }
           }
-          version = atts.getValue("old_version");
-          if (version != null) {
-               current.version = Integer.parseInt(version);
-          }
 
           String action = atts.getValue("action");
           if (action == null)