Under SW2014, you can now manage the material via a family of excel parts:
We put the "$BIBLIOTHEQUE:MATERIAUX@Nom of the room" property in one of the columns (without the ")
The value of the line must be equal to: "library name:material name" (without the ")
When you put yourself on the value you have a drop-down list with your different favorite materials (same drop-down list as under SW when you edit the material)
I don't know if this helps you solve your problem but it may help some others.
@froussel, thank you but indeed it does not correspond to my request because I do not want to go through the Excel document and I do not make a Family of Parts but a selection of the desired material during the design (250 in our database)
@froussel, I will go back on what I said! This could indeed be useful!
Maybe I can create an interface from Excel like a custom properties form. This way I will have the ease and functionality of the interface but also the link with the properties of SolidWorks....
To be developed soon!