Operation

VAM is a linux command line program, at it's simplest  it is started by typing

am100     for the wd16 version, or

am1200    for the 68000 version

At a shell prompt. Like most linux command line programs it has switches that modify it's startup, and its STDOUT and STDERR output can be redirected.

For the wd16 program, usage is

am100 {-P -T -t -f inifile}
    where:\t-f inifile = name of initialization file    ; default am100.ini
    where:\t-T = startup with tracing on
    where:\t-t = startup with op only trace on
    where:\t-P = detailed POST (power on self test)

For the 68000 program, usage is

am1200 {-t -p -f inifile}
    where:\t-f inifile = name of initialization file    ; default am1200.ini
    where:\t-t = suppress INITIAL redirected stderr trace
    where:\t-p = detailed POST (power on self test)

The -f and -P options are similar, but the trace works a little differently between the two emulators so the -T/-t options have a different effect.

The default inifile for the wd16 emulator is am100.ini,  and for the 68000 emalator it's am1200.ini. Both are documented in the Configuration section.

Like any other program started from the linux shell prompt, STDOUT is redirected using >filename and STDERR using 2>filename. Since these emulators use the NCURSES package to format their output redirection of STDOUT is usually not a good idea. But they use STDERR for messages and more importantly trace output

For the wd16 emulator,  -T turns on instruction trace with registers (-t without registers) whether STDERR is going to the terminal or has been redirected. Of course it makes a real mess if not reditected.

For the 68000 emulator,  trace (without registers) is always turned on when STDERR is redirected. It can be turned on and off, and register tracing on and off during normal operation. All -t does is suppress initial tracing until it is so turned on.