Optimizing your system

Since less is better is the rule of thumb for embedded systems, the QNX System Builder's System Optimizer and the Dietician help you optimize your final system by:

reducing the size of shared libraries for your image
performing system-wide optimizations to remove unnecessary shared libraries, add required shared libraries, and reduce the size of all shared libraries in the system

CAUTION:

If you reduce a shared library, and your image subsequently needs to access binaries on a filesystem (disk, network, etc.) that isn't managed by the QNX System Builder, then the functions required by those unmanaged binaries may not be present. This causes those binaries to fail on execution.

In general, shared-library optimizers such as the Dietician are truly useful only in the case of a finite number of users of the shared libraries, as you would find in a closed system (i.e. a typical embedded system).

If you have only a small number of unmanaged binaries, one workaround is to create a dummy flash filesystem image and add to this image the binaries you need to access. This dummy image is built with the rest of the images, but it can be ignored. This technique lets the Dietician be aware of the requirements of your runtime system.