OCIO configuration files allow for the use of contexts, which are essentially environment variables that refer to color transform files. Contexts can be used to facilitate per-shot color grading, for example.
If you are using OCIO contexts, you can change their value during a session without restarting Maya. To do this, use MEL or Python commands to change the environment variable and then refresh the color management preferences.
For example, suppose that your configuration file uses a context named
SHOT, which is currently set to
abc123.spi1d, and you want to change it to
ijk456.spi1d. In this case, you can run the following lines of MEL in the
Script Editor:
putenv "SHOT" "ijk456.spi1d"; colorManagementPrefs -refresh;