diff --git a/python/obitools3/uri/decode.pyx b/python/obitools3/uri/decode.pyx
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 5f9288e..4451503
--- a/python/obitools3/uri/decode.pyx
+++ b/python/obitools3/uri/decode.pyx
@@ -171,7 +171,8 @@ Reads an URI and returns a tuple containing:
 def open_uri(uri,
              bint input=True,
              type newviewtype=View,
-             dms_only=False):
+             dms_only=False,
+             force_file=False):
     
     cdef bytes urib = tobytes(uri)
     cdef bytes scheme
@@ -195,9 +196,9 @@ def open_uri(uri,
     if 'obi' not in config:
         config['obi']={}
     
-    try:
+    if not force_file and "defaultdms" in config["obi"]:
         default_dms=config["obi"]["defaultdms"]
-    except KeyError:
+    else:
         default_dms=None
         
     try: