For files with KIND = DISK and NEWFILE = FALSE, if the TITLE file attribute of the logical file was not assigned a usercode, then at file-open time the file is searched for under the usercode of the process that declared the file. If the file is not found under that usercode, it is searched for as a nonusercoded file. This search pattern is the same even if the file-open statement is executed by a process different from the process that declared the file.

Similarly, the family where the system searches for the file is affected by the FAMILY task attribute of the process that declares the file, rather than by that of the process that opens the file. If the TITLE file attribute specifies a family, the FAMILY task attribute can specify a substitute family. If the TITLE file attribute does not include a family, the default is DISK, and the FAMILY task attribute can specify a substitute family for DISK.