Changing the Data Directory of MySQL Comm'ty Ed'n

[Kirby Dehnel]

Hello. I have MS Windows and I'm using the "development environment" called Laragon with Apache, PHP, & MySQL. I've been trying to get the MySQL data directory for version 8 changed from its default of "mysql-8". When I change this in the file "my.ini" (even first after a re-boot and before any MySQL services get loaded), that same data directory of "mysql-8" just gets re-created and that line in "my.ini" gets re-written with the data directory name of "mysql-8".

I've done all the text searching I can think of to hunt down where this directory name might be lingering around, but I find nothing.

I tried the command line interface some days ago and the commands themselves were successful but even after re-booting, when I start up MySQL it went right back to creating the directory of "mysql-8".

So I've been wondering if this data directory name is actually hard-coded??? Is there really no way to change this??? My reasoning is that I want the same data directory name as for the pre-8 version of MySQL since the directory name of "mysql" is where the database is stored, and one of my own little nuances is that I don't like version numbers in directory names, only the program name, but this personal preference I'm willing to set aside if need be.

Hoping this is simple, and thank you,
Kirby D