This version of this document is no longer maintained. For the latest documentation, see http://www.qnx.com/developers/docs.

What is QNX Momentics?

This chapter includes:

Choice, tools, source, and help
QNX Momentics at a glance
Getting started before you have your target
A word about licensing

Choice, tools, source, and help

As a complete package designed for embedded systems developers, the QNX Momentics development suite gives you everything you need at every stage of your product-development cycle:

Choice: Choice of host (Windows, Linux, QNX Neutrino), choice of target (ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, SH-4, XScale, x86), and choice of development language (C, C++, Embedded C++, Java).
Tools: Code development, editors, source control, compilers, libraries, profilers, analyzers, optimizers, etc.
Help: Documentation, forums, technical support programs, etc.

Full source code for numerous startup programs, IPLs, device drivers, etc. is available from our website.

QNX Momentics at a glance

Here are the main parts of the QNX Momentics development suite:

QNX Neutrino RTOS: The whole point of it all. If Neutrino is the "engine" that will empower the embedded system you're developing, then QNX Momentics is the "factory" where you modify your engine as well as build, test, and finish your vehicles.
Integrated Development Environment: This is your toolbox. The IDE's task-oriented interface helps you quickly set up your project, choose your programming language, choose a target processor, compile your code, connect to your target, transfer your application to your target, run it, debug it, profile it, and fine-tune it.
Command-line tools: If you aren't using the IDE, you can use command-line tools to develop applications. For example, you can use qcc to compile and link, and mkifs to create an OS image.
Libraries: ANSI C, POSIX, Dinkum C++ (full and embedded), GNU C++ (x86 only), graphics, widgets, compression, etc.
Documentation: How-to guides, references, context-sensitive help, and technotes. See the chapter How to Get Help to help you find your way through the documentation.

If you've installed QNX Momentics, you can download these components from our website after logging into your myQNX account:

Board Support Packages: Software and step-by-step instructions to help you get Neutrino and your applications running on specific evaluation boards.
Driver Development Kits: Full source and detailed documentation to help you write your own drivers for various devices: audio, graphics, input (mice, keyboards, etc.), network, and USB.
Note that the QNX Momentics development suite includes the DDK documentation.

You can also get Technology Development Kits (TDKs), kits that augment the base Neutrino OS platform in QNX Momentics with specialized, value-added technologies. The TDKs currently include:

Acoustic Processing
Advanced Graphics (formerly 3D Graphics)
Multimedia
Web Browser

For more information about these components, contact your sales representative.

Getting started before you have your target

Assuming you plan to develop a Neutrino-based embedded system of some kind (e.g. a vehicle telematics system, a router, a medical imaging device), you can start developing your application, even before you have your target hardware.

And if you haven't yet decided on the CPU family for your target (e.g. PowerPC, XScale), you can still begin developing your application. As a rule, with QNX Momentics you write your application code once, then compile it however many times you need for whatever supported targets you're using. As you'll see if you plan to use the IDE, you can build the very same project for any of our supported processors with just a couple of mouse clicks.

If you're developing on a self-hosted Neutrino system, you can run your application directly on your development machine.

Consider the following scenarios:

x86 (PC) target

If your final target hardware will be a PC in some shape or form (e.g. a PC/104 SBC module), you can simply connect your host to any spare PC and use that as your temporary target. You should expect to make very few changes (if any) in your application when the time comes to move to your final target.

And if you don't happen to have a spare PC, you could use a virtual machine -- products such as Workstation by VMware (http://www.vmware.com) can emulate a separate, complete hardware environment right on your desktop.

Once you've set up a virtual machine (VM) on your host, you can then use it as your target -- you can run, test, and debug your Neutrino applications on the VM as if it were an actual machine connected to your host.

Virtual machines don't necessarily support hard realtime.

x86 non-BIOS target

In this case, the target computer (e.g. an LX800) isn't a PC. It doesn't have a BIOS, so it won't boot and load Neutrino in the same way as a PC. In order to run Neutrino on such a target, you need an appropriate BSP for your particular hardware, including an IPL that could set up the processor and load Neutrino properly.

We're continually adding new BSPs to our extensive selection; for a list, see the Products area of our website, http://www.qnx.com. If you don't see a BSP for your target hardware, contact us.

You can develop your application without target hardware, because much of your code will be hardware-independent. For device drivers and other hardware-specific areas of your system, you may be able to use a virtual platform tool that accurately emulates your specific embedded system hardware.

For instance, Virtio (http://www.virtio.com) makes virtual platforms that emulate various processors and peripherals, right down to the CPU's instruction set. You can download a free time-limited evaluation copy from the vendor's website.

Any supported CPU family

Whatever your target hardware, you can still go a long way down your development path using QNX Momentics right now. Develop all your application-level components first, leaving device drivers and other hardware-specific details until you have your target hardware.

As mentioned earlier, you might want to consider Virtio if you need a functionally accurate virtual prototype of your embedded platform before you have the actual hardware itself.

Platform-related issues

Whatever the specific CPU family, your application code will, in most cases, run unchanged when you go to your final target. But you may need to be aware of a few platform-related issues (e.g. endian differences, CPU speeds, I/O addressing, alignment of data structures, memory limitations, synchronization on multicore vs uniprocessor systems, etc.).

Fortunately, QNX Momentics includes several header files and convenience functions that will help you anticipate and easily handle such problems.

For more information on these and other platform-related issues, see Freedom from Hardware and Platform Dependencies in the Neutrino Programmer's Guide.

A word about licensing

Here are some general questions about licensing. For more information, visit the Licensing area of http://www.qnx.com, where you'll find details on our licensing model, types of licenses, etc., or email licensing@qnx.com.

Where can I find my EULA?: You'll find your Momentics End User License Agreement and the full license guides on your CD and also in the Licensing area of our website, http://www.qnx.com
I've installed QNX Momentics on my workstation. Can I also make a copy for my laptop?: Certainly. Our licensing policy is per seat (i.e. per person), not per machine. You may use QNX Momentics on your primary workstation as well as on a laptop or on a PC at your home, provided that you use only one system at any given time.
Can I get a Neutrino runtime system?: You can purchase the QNX Neutrino x86 Runtime Kit, which includes runtime binaries and data, but no development tools or source; for more information, please contact your QNX sales representative.
As an OEM, how do I get a runtime license?: To obtain a runtime license (which governs how you may distribute certain Neutrino runtime files as part of your product), please contact your QNX sales representative.