I believe I have at least part of the answer. Because I am using conf
files named something other than /etc/koha.conf, the file context.pm
needs to know the exact conf filename in line 97. Setting this parameter
_appears_ to be sufficient to get the db files in the correct directory.
Now I'll have to see if I can get the data stored where I want it by
using a symbolic link for each data directory. Don't know if mysql will
be too happy about that, but i will try it and report success or
failure. Thanks again for all pointers. Mark