Customersinvariablyputconstantpressureoncompaniestoinnovateandimprove.Theywantproductsthatincorporatethelatesttechnologytohelpthemgrowtheirbusiness.Theywanttheslickuserinterfacesthatthey’vecometoexpectfromconsumerproducts.Andtheywantproductsthatarefaster,safer,andcheaper.

Allofthisspellstroubleforacompanywhoseproductsarebasedonold,unsupportedtechnology.Butwecanhelp.

Service

PhotontoQt

CompaniesthatstillusetheQNXPhotonmicroGUIintheir

products—adeprecatedandunsupportedtechnology—are

trappedusingolderhardwarethat’sincreasinglyhardtoacquire,

unabletoupdatelibrariesforthelatestbugfixesorsecurity

patches,andstuckonoldversionsoftheQNXOSthatlacknew

featuresandperformanceimprovements.They’refindingit

moreandmoredifficulttogetengineerswhoaretrainedon

Photon,leadingtoengineering-resourceshortages.Andthey’re

leftwithproductsthathaveasignificantlydatedlook-and-feel.

Whileadecades-oldUXmightimplyproductstability—a

benefitinsomeindustries—italsoconnotesdated

functionality,alackofinnovation,vulnerabilitytocybersecurity

attacks,andsoon.

WHENISITTIMETOMIGRATE?Ifyouansweryestoanyofthefollowingquestions,theanswerisnow.

• DoyouneedtoupdateyourproducttohardwarethatisnolongersupportedbyearlierversionsofQNX?

• Arebugfixesorsecuritypatchesrequiredinlibrariesthataren’tback-ported?

• Iscertifyingforsecurity/safetyproblematicwitholder,uncertifiedcomponents?

• DoyouneedtomodernizeaUXtomatchcustomerexpectations?

• Areyouredesigningorre-architectingaproductandconsideritriskytostartonanunsupportedplatform?

• AreyouconsideringmovingtoalaterversionofQNXtotakeadvantageofnewOSfeatures?

• Doyouneedtoadaptyourcodebasetohandlebothreal-timesystemsandmobile/tabletcontrollers?

• AreyouunabletofindexperiencedPhotondevelopers?

Therearealwaysbetterwaysfor

engineerstoimproveacompany’s

bottom-linethanportinglegacy

code.

3

1

We’vemovedmanycustomersfromPhotontoQt,helpingthemtransformtheirproductwithacleanlydesigned,fullymodernizedUX–evenwhendealingwithuniquePhotonfeatureslikeDitto,Phindows,orstrokefonts.Wearebigbelieversincreatingwell-architected,qualitycodethatcanpassthetestoftime.

KDABhasthreekeyingredientsthatmaketheportingprocessstraightforwardandtrouble-free:wehaveengineerswhospecializeinPhoton,proprietaryautomationtoolsspecificallytoassistinPhotonmigrations,and

2

deepQtexpertiseinmanyareas–weare,infact,veryactiveQtcontributors.

PhotonandQthaveenoughsignificantdifferencestomakeaPhotontoQtmigrationcomplicatedandtricky.AtKDAB,weknowthemigrationpitfallsandunderstandthetechniquesneededtomakeaportsuccessful–inotherwords,small,fast,bug-free,andquicklydelivered.AKDABportsavestime,experimentation,re-engineering,andallowsyourengineerstofocusonthingsthataddvalue.

KDABisanexpertinmigratingPhotonsoftwaretoamodernUXframeworkbasedonQt,andtheonlyQNX-recommendedsupplierforthisprocess.

Forcustomersthatwanttodo

aPhotontoQtmigration

themselves,wehappilyoffer

workshopstoeducatestaffon

migrationbestpracticesand

provideongoingmentoringto

helpwhennecessary.

Andforthosecustomers

withastalledorhalf-complete

migration,wearehappyto

stepin,digestwhatwork

remainstobedone,clean

everythingup,andcomplete

theeffort.

SIXSTEPSFORACLEANPHOTONTOQTMIGRATION

1. Evaluation:Westartwithafreemigrationevaluationtodeterminethescope,timeline,complexities,andcostoftheproject,ensuringthattheportingprocessmeetsbothneedsandexpectations

2. Discussionanddesign:Wediscussanyarchitectural,refactoring,orUXchanges,designingtheportwiththeseinmind

3. Porting:WeportovermuchofthelegacycodeusingaproprietaryPhoton-to-Qttransformationtoolthatautomatesmuchofthemindlessworktosaveonoveralldevelopmentcost

4. Revisions:WehandofftheremainderoftheporttoQtandPhotonexperts,incorporatinganyagreed-torefactoringanddesignchanges,andcollaboratingwithyourengineeringstaffasdesired

5. Testing:Wetesttheportagainstourowntestscaffoldingaswellasanyadditionallyrequiredtesting

6. Training:Weholdspecializedworkshopsand/ortrainingasneededtorampupyourengineeringstaffonthenewQtframeworksandtools

MovingtoQtwillopenupyourproducttothebenefitsofamodern,activelysupported,andhugecommunityframework:

• Qtiscontinuallyupdatedthrougharegularreleasecadencewithfeatureenhancementsandbugfixes

• Qtusesmoderndevelopmentmethodologiesandembedded-friendlyC++,supportingC++11features(C++14comingsoon)

• Qt3Dprovidesfull3Dsupportwithoptionalphysics-basedrendering(PBR)

• Qthascomponentsforgraphics,IoTdevices,Bluetooth,Sensors,andotherperipherals

• Qtsupportscomprehensivemultimediastandards(includingDRM)

• QtQuickandQMLprovideapowerfulbutsimplescriptableUX

• QtCreatorIDEallowsclosercollaborationbetweendesignersanddevelopers

• Qtoffersmulti-platformsupportforQNXSDP6.6,QNXOSforSafety,QNXOSforMedical,aswellasportabilitytootheroperatingsystemslikeLinux,Windows,WindowsEmbedded,orAndroid

Migrationworkisneverfun–it’sboring,detailed,andtimeconsuming.Consideringthenumberofhoursittakesengineerstolearnthrough

trial-and-errorhowtomoveaproductfromPhotontoQt,usingKDABisagreatwaytosavetime,money,andengineers’hair.

AbouttheKDABGroup

TheKDABGroupistheworld'sleadingsoftwareconsultancyforarchitecture,developmentanddesignofQt,C++andOpenGLapplicationsacrossdesktop,embeddedandmobileplatforms.KDABisthebiggestindependentcontributortoQt.Ourexpertsbuildrun-times,mixnativeandwebtechnologies,solvehardwarestackperformanceissuesandportingproblemsforhundredsofcustomers,manyamongtheFortune500.KDAB’stoolsandextensiveexperienceincreating,debugging,profilingandportingcomplexapplicationshelpdevelopersworldwidetodeliversuccessfulprojects.KDAB’strainers,allfull-timedevelopers,providemarketleading,hands-on,trainingforQt,OpenGLandmodernC++inmultiplelanguages.Foundedin1999,KDABhasofficesthroughoutNorthAmericaandEurope.

www.kdab.com©2017theKDABGroup.KDABisaregisteredtrademarkoftheKDABGroup.Allothertrademarksbelongtotheirrespectiveowners.