Recovering linked libraries

Hello,

We’ve recently started working with Blender in a small team.

For ease of use and cut down on re-work, we decided to keep a shared linked library of various materials. Modelling separately, we apply materials, textures and node groups via File -> Link from the materials.blend.

This materials.blend is kept on our networked fileserver so we all can have access to it.

The problem is, if we develop on our local hard drives it creates a absolute link pathway to the materials.blend. Working off the server is not preferred as some of our files are huge.

There’s no guarantee that IT won’t change the network drive / policies come in that will change things and that absolute link will be broken.

My question is, is it possible to recover a materials once the path has been broken? I.E. is there a way I can point the file at a new materials.blend link and have it re-import all the missing materials? We’ve tried changing the library URL under datablocks - but once the file is saved the library disappears and there’s no way of recovering (save reapplying them).

In the meantime we are adjusting our workflow so that everything is in a subfolder of the materials.blend with relative links, but I was hoping there was a way of fixing this to avoid any future missing material issues.