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QNX Momentics IDE User's Guide
This User's Guide describes version 8.0 of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that's part of the QNX Tool Suite.
Developing Projects with the IDE
To use the QNX Momentics IDE to write applications targeted for QNX OS systems, you must define projects, which are containers that store your source code, configuration files, and binary files.

QNX Momentics IDE User's Guide
This User's Guide describes version 8.0 of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that's part of the QNX Tool Suite.
- Working with QNX Momentics IDE
  QNX Momentics IDE provides a graphical environment for developing, running, debugging, and profiling applications.
- Developing Projects with the IDE
  To use the QNX Momentics IDE to write applications targeted for QNX OS systems, you must define projects, which are containers that store your source code, configuration files, and binary files.
  - Creating a QNX project
    Project creation is done through wizards, which set up projects based on user-specified settings.
  - Writing code
    When you create a non-empty project, the IDE creates the directory structure and generates default source files and makefiles based on the project type that you select. For a QNX Executable project, the source file containing the main() function is automatically opened for editing.
  - Adding libraries
    Our sample application doesn't use libraries but if you want to build an application that does, you need to link those libraries to your application. The way you do this in the IDE depends on the type of makefile you're using.
  - Building a QNX project
    From the launch bar, you can build a project based on a certain launch mode (i.e., user goal).
  - Running an application
    From the launch bar, you can run an application based on a launch mode and a launch target.
- Debugging Applications
  The IDE allows you to debug a running application, a library used by the application, or a core file.
- Unit Testing
  The IDE lets you use commercial test frameworks to write unit tests and then execute them by launching a project. While running a test program, you can use the Code Coverage tool to determine how much of the code is exercised (covered) by your tests.
- Analyzing Memory Usage and Finding Memory Problems
  QNX Momentics IDE lets you run Memory Analysis and several Valgrind (pronounced val-grinned) tools to find memory problems such as leaks and corruption, and to measure memory usage of programs. It also provides the QNX System Information perspective so you can learn which processes are consuming memory or other resources excessively.
- Analyzing Performance
  QNX Momentics IDE works with the Application Profiler and Valgrind (pronounced val-grinned) Cachegrind tools, which measure the performance of programs running on QNX targets. It also offers the QNX System Information perspective for viewing performance-related metrics.
- Analyzing System Behavior
  Many IDE tools allow you to find errors and optimize applications, but to ensure that your embedded system behaves well, you need to use system-wide diagnostic tools. The QNX System Information and QNX System Profiler tools help you understand process and thread interaction on the target, reduce application and system startup times, and debug deadlock and improper CPU usage levels.
- Building QNX OS Images
  Using the IDE's QNX System Builder feature, you can generate OS images, which are bootable images that contain startup code, the QNX OS, your applications, and any data files used by your applications. The IDE supports image building by allowing you to transfer an image to a target board.
- Reference
  The reference topics provide information about QNX Momentics IDE features and workflows that isn't covered in the chapters related to developing projects or debugging, testing, and analyzing applications.
- JTAG: Debugging with Lauterbach TRACE32
  The Lauterbach TRACE32® In-Circuit Debugger (TRACE32-ICD) supports the JTAG onchip interface so you can perform hardware debugging of QNX OS systems through the QNX Momentics IDE.
QNX Software Development Platform
QNX SDP is a cross-compiling and debugging environment, including an IDE and command-line tools, for building binary images and programs for target boards running the QNX OS 8.0.
QNX Software in the Cloud
QNX Software in the Cloud enables developers to use the QNX OS in the Amazon cloud environment.
QNX Toolkit for Visual Studio Code
This User's Guide describes the QNX^® Toolkit for Visual Studio Code. The guide introduces you to the QNX Toolkit by explaining the QNX development environment and how to build, run, and debug your QNX^® Operating System (OS) applications and systems.
QNX Hypervisor User's Guide
This User's Guide explains the QNX hypervisor architecture and provides instructions for installing and running a QNX Hypervisor system, changing system components and configuration, and using hypervisor features such as virtual devices (vdevs).
Typographical Conventions, Support, and Licensing
This section describes the typographical conventions used throughout the documentation, explains how to obtain technical support, and provides some information about licensing.

Developing Projects with the IDE

QNX Tool SuiteIntegrated Development Environment User's GuideDeveloperSetup

To use the QNX Momentics IDE to write applications targeted for QNX OS systems, you must define projects, which are containers that store your source code, configuration files, and binary files.

The IDE contains wizards for creating projects based on programming language and whether you're writing an application or library. In this guide, we focus mostly on QNX projects, which support C or C++ programs on multiple processors, with standard or recursive makefiles. You can create non-QNX projects that are supported by the Eclipse platform; see Creating a non-QNX project for details.

The general procedure of developing and running an application is as follows:

Create an application project using the appropriate wizard.
Write the code to implement whatever functionality your application is meant to provide. Or, import existing code that provides this functionality.
If you want to add libraries to your project, update the makefile as needed.
Build the application to produce a binary. Fix any errors and rebuild the application as necessary.
Run the application on the target and verify the proper behavior.

These steps are explained in the sections that follow, which demonstrate how to develop and run a Hello World application. We don't provide an example of developing a library project, but you can follow steps 1 through 4 to do this.

Page updated: March 05, 2025