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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.
Programming
Programmer's Guide
The QNX OS Programmer's Guide covers a variety of topics that might interest developers who are building applications that will run under the QNX OS.
Compiling and Debugging
Let's start by looking at some things you should consider when you start to write a program for the QNX OS.
Debugging in a cross-development environment
The process-level debug agent
When a breakpoint is encountered and the process-level debug agent pdebug is in control, the process being debugged and all its threads are stopped. All other processes continue to run and interrupts remain enabled.
Serial connection

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.
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.
- Quickstart Guide
- System Architecture
  The System Architecture guide accompanies the QNX OS and is intended for both application developers and end-users.
- OS Components & Operations
- Graphics
- Programming
  - Getting Started with the QNX OS
    Getting Started with the QNX OS: A Guide for Realtime Programmers is intended to introduce you to the QNX OS and help you develop applications and resource managers for it.
  - Programmer's Guide
    The QNX OS Programmer's Guide covers a variety of topics that might interest developers who are building applications that will run under the QNX OS.
    - Compiling and Debugging
      Let's start by looking at some things you should consider when you start to write a program for the QNX OS.
      - Choosing the OS version for building programs
        Whether you're using the command line or the IDE, you can install multiple versions of QNX SDP and build programs for multiple versions of QNX OS.
      - Making your code more portable
        To help you create portable applications, the QNX OS lets you compile for specific standards and include OS-specific code.
      - Cross-development
        In this section, we'll describe how to compile and debug a QNX OS system. Your QNX OS system might be anything from a deeply embedded turnkey system to a powerful multiprocessor server. You'll develop the code to implement your system using development tools running on a supported cross-development platform.
      - Overriding compiler options specified in makefiles
        You can specify compiler options in the shell environment where you run the make utility, to override the options specified in standard makefiles.
      - Using libraries
        When you're developing code, you almost always make use of a library, a collection of code modules that you or someone else has already developed (and hopefully debugged).
      - Linking your modules
        To link your application against a library, use the -l option to qcc, omitting the lib prefix and any extension from the library's name. For example, to link against libsocket, specify -l socket.
      - Optimizing the runtime linker
      - Debugging in a cross-development environment
        The GNU debugger (gdb)
        The GNU debugger is a command-line program that provides a very rich set of options.
        The process-level debug agent
        When a breakpoint is encountered and the process-level debug agent pdebug is in control, the process being debugged and all its threads are stopped. All other processes continue to run and interrupts remain enabled.
        Serial connection
        TCP/IP connection
        If the host and the target are connected via some form of TCP/IP connection, the debugger and agent can use that connection as well. Two types of TCP/IP communications are possible with the debugger and agent: static port and dynamic port connections (see below).
      - Auditing builds
        QNX provides tools that you can use to gather information about build artifacts, including which shared libraries a binary needs, the package it belongs to, and the command-line options that were used to build it.
      - A simple debug session
    - QNX OS Architecture and Concepts
      The QNX OS architecture consists of the microkernel and several cooperating processes. These processes communicate with each other via various forms of interprocess communication (IPC). Message passing is the primary form of IPC in QNX OS.
    - Processes
      Your applications should be written in a way that reflects the architecture of the QNX OS—as a set of cooperating processes. In this chapter, we see how to start processes (also known as creating processes) from code, how to terminate them, and how to detect their termination.
    - Multicore Processing
      Multiprocessing systems, whether discrete or multicore, can greatly improve your applications' performance.
    - Working with Access Control Lists (ACLs)
      Some filesystems, such as the Power-Safe (fs-qnx6.so) and QNX compressed filesystems, extend file permissions with Access Control Lists, which are based on the withdrawn IEEE POSIX 1003.1e and 1003.2c draft standards.
    - Understanding the Microkernel's Concept of Time
      Whether you're working with timers or simply getting the time of day, it's important that you understand how the OS works with time.
    - Handling Hardware Interrupts
      This chapter explains the QNX OS mechanisms for quickly reacting to hardware events.
    - Working with Memory
      (or The Persistence of Memory, with a nod to Salvador Dali) In the Process Manager chapter of the System Architecture guide, we looked at how the OS manages memory. This chapter describes how you can work with memory.
    - Freedom from Hardware and Platform Dependencies
      The QNX OS can run on many different hardware platforms. The way in which applications can access peripheral devices and how data is stored varies between platforms. This chapter explains our solutions for minimizing the impact of such platform dependencies.
    - Conventions for Recursive Makefiles and Directories
      In this chapter, we'll look at the supplementary files used in the QNX OS development environment. Although we use the standard make command to create libraries and executables, we also use some of our own conventions in the Makefile syntax.
    - Glossary
  - Writing a Resource Manager
- System Security Guide
  The QNX System Security Guide is intended for both system integrators who are responsible for the security of a QNX OS system and developers who want to create a QNX OS resource manager free from vulnerabilities.
- Utilities & Libraries
- Migrating to 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.

Serial connection

QNX SDP8.0Programmer's GuideDeveloper

If the host and target systems are connected via a serial port, then you should start the debug agent (pdebug) with the following command:

pdebug devicename[,baud]

This indicates the target's communications channel (devicename) and specifies the baud rate (baud).

For example, if the target has a /dev/ser2 connection to the host, and we want the link to be 115,200 baud, we would specify:

pdebug /dev/ser2,115200

Serial debugging — Figure 1Running the process debug agent with a serial link at 115200 baud.

The QNX OS target requires a supported serial port. The target is connected to the host using either a null-modem cable, which allows two identical serial ports to be directly connected, or a straight-through cable, depending on the particular serial port provided on the target. The null-modem cable crosses the Tx/Rx data and handshaking lines. Most computer stores stock both types of cables.

Null-modem cable pinout — Figure 2Null-modem cable pinout.

Page updated: March 05, 2025