Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset) #1374

methylDragon · 2023-01-30T04:32:37Z

Description

This issue describes and lists the relevant PRs that allow subscriptions to receive messages (i.e. DynamicData) with descriptions/types constructed at runtime, and use that type to access fields of those messages without using message-specific compiled structs, as specified in ros-infrastructure/rep#358

Note: This does NOT include:

Dynamic publishing: a feature where publishers can publish dynamic messages
- (static pub -> dynamic sub works. But there is no notion yet of dynamic pub, so no way for dynamic pub -> static/dynamic sub yet.)
Service/action support: And also no support for services or actions yet.
Support for other middlewares other than FastRTPS

Also, this feature set only supports rmw_fastrtps currently.

Demoing This Feature

The status of this feature development is reflected in https://github.com/methylDragon/ros-type-introspection-prototype

⚠️⚠️⚠️ Take note that the repos file is modified to prevent the building of any middleware implementations other than FastDDS

You MUST not have sourced any other ROS 2 workspace or distros! The presence of any other middleware will trigger the building of rmw implementations, and since new rmw interfaces were defined, this will cause compilation failures.

git clone -b runtime_interface_reflection https://github.com/methylDragon/ros-type-introspection-prototype.git
cd ros-type-introspection-prototype
git submodule update --init --recursive

mkdir -p prototype_ws/src/ros2_repos
cd prototype_ws

vcs import src/ros2_repos < src/ros2.repos

rosdep install --from-paths src -y --ignore-src
source install/setup.bash
colcon build --packages-up-to dynamic_typesupport_examples ros2run

Then in two terminals:

source install/setup.bash
ros2 run dynamic_typesupport_examples static_pub

source install/setup.bash
ros2 run dynamic_typesupport_examples dynamic_sub_serialized

Feature Description

A C unified serialization support library for run-time type reflection and construction, and utilities that support it
- And the associated specific serialization support libraries
- And C++ wrappers to manage memory for those C types (in rclcpp)
A C library for manipulating the runtime type description message structs
New rmw interfaces for:
- Obtaining middleware-specific serialization support
- Checking if a middleware supports:
  - Runtime type discovery
  - Taking message buffers as runtime type (i.e. DynamicData)
- A new middleware agnostic runtime type rosidl_message_type_support_t implementation
A new DynamicSubscription subscription class that supports a callback that takes dynamic data
- Should support taking serialized messages and converting them into dynamic data for the callback
- And also taking dynamic data directly from the middleware
Necessary changes in rclcpp to allow the DynamicSubscription to work

Prototype serialization support libraries and implementations of this feature will be made for FastDDS in rmw, rcl, rclcpp, and rmw_fastrtps.

Implementation Considerations

See REP-2011 for the feature specification.
(The REP will have to be updated slightly since the implementation of this feature exposed certain necessary refinements.)

FastDDS was chosen for the prototype implementation because it is currently the default rmw for ROS 2.

Additionally, some other REP-2011 features have barebones/minimal implementations that were created to support this feature. As other subsets of REP-2011 get implemented (e.g. the type description message and its utilities), sections of this feature will need to be swapped out with those implementations, namely:

~~The type description message's C struct and how it is used~~
The usage of type hashing

Relevant PRs

The top level PRs need to be merged and built alongside each other. The demos repo (and setup instructions above) will ensure the proper branches are checked out for the build.

Interim Stubs
These are so we can get in ABI stable backports (to tide us over the freeze)

Stub Impl

TODOs

Initial implementation
Taking dynamic data directly
Minor: Clarify if I should be calling it dynamic_type/dynamic_data or runtime_type/runtime_data
type description utils
Migrate rosidl_dynamic_typesupport to use type description
BONUS: defer construction till build()
rclcpp wrappers for dynamic typesupport structs
Populate rmw impl virtual methods (so the other rmw implementations can build)
Linting (I am deliberately leaving this till last because linting will cause the serialization support library interface and implementation PRs to become prohibitively long)

When this feature is considered more stable:

Tests
Separate serialization_support_lib (and its associate libraries) out into their own ros2 repositories
Update ros2 examples

Additional Waves

Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset): BONUS: Allocator Refactor #1405

Additional notes/issues

const correctness and lifetime management of `rosidl_message_type_support_t`

The rosidl_message_type_support_t was, in all cases prior to this feature, populated and used as a compile-time static objects.

This feature makes it so that users can generate and populate their own type support structs, which means that they will have to manage its lifetime.

Furthermore, the const void * typesupport implementation of the struct means that runtime mutation of the typesupport implementation is not logically const correct even though it is physically const correct. This is troublesome because mutation of the typesupport is necessary for deferring the getting of dynamic types.

FastDDS Issues

Sequences of nested messages WILL NOT WORK
- Sequences and Arrays of Nested Structs Cause Segfault on Pub-Sub for Dynamic Types (with minimal examples) eProsima/Fast-DDS#2969
- [15446] TypeObject for sequences/arrays/maps of nested types crashes eProsima/Fast-DDS#3296
Minor (?): Double free on type destruction
- Double Free for DynamicData for Sequences of Nested Structs (with minimal example) eProsima/Fast-DDS#2970

For Posterity

If you want to add new (C compatible) serialization support functionality, follow these steps!

Details

Update the common interface (rosidl_dynamic_typesupport)
1. Headers
  1. Abstract interface: serialization_support_interface.h
  2. API Caller: The respective header (e.g. dynamic_data.h)
2. Sources
  1. API Caller: The respective source (e.g. dynamic_data.c)
Update the implementations
1. Headers:
  1. API Impl: The respective header (e.g. dynamic_data.h)
2. Sources
  1. Abstract Interface Impl (e.g. serialization_support.cpp)
  2. API Impl: The respective source (e.g. dynamic_data.cpp)
Update the wrappers
1. For each client library, update the appropriate wrapper class
  1. Headers: e.g. rclcpp: DynamicMessage.h
  2. Source: e.g. rclcpp: DynamicMessage.cpp

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

allenh1 · 2023-02-08T20:54:48Z

@methylDragon Hey! I was trying to run the demo locally, but I had trouble compiling:

Finished <<< rmw_connextdds_common [4.04s]
Starting >>> rmw_connextdds
Starting >>> rmw_connextddsmicro
Finished <<< rmw_connextdds [5.13s]            
Finished <<< rcl_interfaces [30.8s]            
Finished <<< rmw_connextddsmicro [5.36s]                                     
Finished <<< std_msgs [32.5s]                                                
Starting >>> runtime_type_support_examples_msgs
Finished <<< rmw_fastrtps_shared_cpp [16.3s]                                 
Finished <<< test_msgs [42.0s]                                               
Starting >>> rmw_fastrtps_cpp
Starting >>> rmw_fastrtps_dynamic_cpp         
Finished <<< runtime_type_support_examples_msgs [10.0s]
Finished <<< rmw_fastrtps_cpp [16.3s]                                          
Finished <<< rmw_fastrtps_dynamic_cpp [17.2s]                                
Starting >>> rmw_implementation
Finished <<< rmw_implementation [11.3s]                                
Starting >>> rcl
--- stderr: rcl                                        
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/12/../../../../x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/bin/ld: ../librcl.so: undefined reference to `rmw_get_serialization_support'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
gmake[2]: *** [test/CMakeFiles/test_rmw_impl_id_check_exe.dir/build.make:138: test/test_rmw_impl_id_check_exe] Error 1
gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:336: test/CMakeFiles/test_rmw_impl_id_check_exe.dir/all] Error 2
gmake[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
gmake: *** [Makefile:146: all] Error 2
---
Failed   <<< rcl [17.3s, exited with code 2]

Summary: 119 packages finished [4min 52s]
  1 package failed: rcl
  34 packages had stderr output: ament_copyright ament_cppcheck ament_cpplint ament_flake8 ament_index_python ament_lint ament_lint_cmake ament_package ament_pep257 ament_pycodestyle ament_uncrustify ament_xmllint domain_coordinator fastrtps foonathan_memory_vendor google_benchmark_vendor launch launch_testing launch_xml launch_yaml mimick_vendor osrf_pycommon performance_test_fixture rcl rcl_yaml_param_parser rcutils rmw_connextdds_common rmw_cyclonedds_cpp rosidl_cli rosidl_pycommon rosidl_typesupport_c rpyutils rti_connext_dds_cmake_module uncrustify_vendor
  4 packages not processed

Am I missing changes or something?

methylDragon · 2023-02-08T21:39:43Z

@methylDragon Hey! I was trying to run the demo locally, but I had trouble compiling:

Finished <<< rmw_connextdds_common [4.04s]
Starting >>> rmw_connextdds
Starting >>> rmw_connextddsmicro
Finished <<< rmw_connextdds [5.13s]            
Finished <<< rcl_interfaces [30.8s]            
Finished <<< rmw_connextddsmicro [5.36s]                                     
Finished <<< std_msgs [32.5s]                                                
Starting >>> runtime_type_support_examples_msgs
Finished <<< rmw_fastrtps_shared_cpp [16.3s]                                 
Finished <<< test_msgs [42.0s]                                               
Starting >>> rmw_fastrtps_cpp
Starting >>> rmw_fastrtps_dynamic_cpp         
Finished <<< runtime_type_support_examples_msgs [10.0s]
Finished <<< rmw_fastrtps_cpp [16.3s]                                          
Finished <<< rmw_fastrtps_dynamic_cpp [17.2s]                                
Starting >>> rmw_implementation
Finished <<< rmw_implementation [11.3s]                                
Starting >>> rcl
--- stderr: rcl                                        
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/12/../../../../x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/bin/ld: ../librcl.so: undefined reference to `rmw_get_serialization_support'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
gmake[2]: *** [test/CMakeFiles/test_rmw_impl_id_check_exe.dir/build.make:138: test/test_rmw_impl_id_check_exe] Error 1
gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:336: test/CMakeFiles/test_rmw_impl_id_check_exe.dir/all] Error 2
gmake[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
gmake: *** [Makefile:146: all] Error 2
---
Failed   <<< rcl [17.3s, exited with code 2]

Summary: 119 packages finished [4min 52s]
  1 package failed: rcl
  34 packages had stderr output: ament_copyright ament_cppcheck ament_cpplint ament_flake8 ament_index_python ament_lint ament_lint_cmake ament_package ament_pep257 ament_pycodestyle ament_uncrustify ament_xmllint domain_coordinator fastrtps foonathan_memory_vendor google_benchmark_vendor launch launch_testing launch_xml launch_yaml mimick_vendor osrf_pycommon performance_test_fixture rcl rcl_yaml_param_parser rcutils rmw_connextdds_common rmw_cyclonedds_cpp rosidl_cli rosidl_pycommon rosidl_typesupport_c rpyutils rti_connext_dds_cmake_module uncrustify_vendor
  4 packages not processed

Am I missing changes or something?

Hey @allenh1 ! The examples won't compile if you have the other non-FastDDS middlewares in your workspace. (I see that your colcon is building rmw_cyclonedds without complaints, for example.)

The ros2.repos file I have supplied with the examples should have commented out iceoryx, and cyclone (and omitted connext). Check to make sure you didn't source any other ROS 2 workspaces/bases before compiling and running the commands! (Check your bashrc too!)

methylDragon · 2023-02-08T21:57:24Z

Ah, apologies @allenh1 , it turns out that I also missed out pushing a change...

I need to update rmw_implementation. Sorry about that, let me get back to you soon.

EDIT: I've updated it. You can delete your cloned workspace and rerun the same commands, and it should work (remember to ensure that there are no other middlewares available in your workspace other than FastDDS!) 🤞
Sorry again!

allenh1 · 2023-02-08T22:40:34Z

Ah, apologies @allenh1 , it turns out that I also missed out pushing a change...

@methylDragon awesome. Thanks! I'll give this a try shortly.

methylDragon · 2023-02-08T23:04:52Z

Oh.. you also need to build ros2cli (and ros2run) also 🤦 , my fault for working in a dirty workspace where I had run colcon build before

I've refined the setup commands.

methylDragon · 2023-04-02T02:46:25Z

Builds here are ordered from most recent to oldest.

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/828f2208a5a0e2c66491b2badb052ba20514ef96/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

interface -> methods (because Microsoft does #define interface struct;) 🤦‍♂️

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Move dynamic typesupport struct to rosidl and fix some memory issues via valgrind (Some memory corruption errors I have no idea how to fix, still...)

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Add support for type description changes and codegen (still trying to debug exports on Windows)

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/828f2208a5a0e2c66491b2badb052ba20514ef96/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Fix warnings and windows linking errors, trying to export on public

gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/53ddc68894bc9a8cc1e941519a48c93a3d245020/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Constant stream of failed windows builds

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Fix usage of `rosidl_typesupport` and `rosidl_typesupport_fastrtps`

Another one https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/53ddc68894bc9a8cc1e941519a48c93a3d245020/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

I missed out using Emerson's branch of rosidl_typesupport and rosidl_typesupport_fastrtps

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Fixing windows build

Another one, windows build fixed

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/78091c76c4d7a6806be61f0d27a9e36d4bfa938a/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

Initial Build

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/78091c76c4d7a6806be61f0d27a9e36d4bfa938a/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

methylDragon · 2023-04-06T05:34:21Z

We're just gonna try testing with and without a gtest linking fix on test_quality_of_service

(Fix is in:)

Fix ODR errors with gtest system_tests#514

== Before fix ==
https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/828f2208a5a0e2c66491b2badb052ba20514ef96/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

== After Fix ==
https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/c4690ada72b89328ad72e0e9c9e17383d32a112a/odr_fix.repos

ODR fix, fixed ODR:

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

methylDragon · 2023-04-06T06:39:46Z

Doing a run for rviz as well,

Fix is in:

Fix ODR errors with gmock rviz#967

== BEFORE FIX ==

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/828f2208a5a0e2c66491b2badb052ba20514ef96/runtime_interface_reflection.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

== AFTER FIX ==

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/methylDragon/1f63b89429c327cc13002538c5294a29/raw/e2510930b8bb60c09f5f427162faf7e0d1724605/odr_fix_with_rviz.repos

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows

methylDragon · 2023-04-07T05:13:25Z

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows
Windows Debug
RHEL

methylDragon · 2023-04-07T07:54:08Z

Allocator refactor is being built on top of this wave of PRs: #1405

methylDragon · 2023-04-07T22:58:51Z

Canary build for windows warnings

Windows

methylDragon · 2023-04-08T00:25:17Z

Linux
Linux-aarch64
Windows
Windows Debug Run 2 Run 3
RHEL

wjwwood · 2023-04-08T09:17:44Z

I've approved all the prs, and windows debug is at least into running tests, so hopefully it comes back green-ish tomorrow. I'll merge all of these then.

wjwwood · 2023-04-08T18:55:50Z

Tests lgtm, let me double check the prs since some other stuff was merged.

wjwwood · 2023-04-08T18:57:45Z

They look ok, I'm going to merge 🤞, let's see what the nightlies say!

ros-discourse · 2023-09-14T15:33:48Z

This issue has been mentioned on ROS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros2-inter-distro-communication-issue-eloquent-to-humble-with-fast-dds/33550/3

This was referenced Jan 30, 2023

Runtime Interface Reflection: rmw ros2/rmw#340

Merged

Runtime Interface Reflection: rmw_fastrtps ros2/rmw_fastrtps#655

Merged

Runtime Interface Reflection: rclcpp ros2/rclcpp#2077

Closed

methylDragon mentioned this issue Feb 8, 2023

Runtime Interface Reflection: rmw_implementation ros2/rmw_implementation#215

Merged

This was referenced Mar 16, 2023

Runtime Interface Reflection: rosidl ros2/rosidl#728

Merged

Runtime Interface Reflection: Dynamic Typesupport Wrappers ros2/rclcpp#2134

Closed

methylDragon mentioned this issue Mar 29, 2023

Runtime Interface Reflection: rcl ros2/rcl#1025

Merged

clalancette assigned methylDragon Mar 30, 2023

This was referenced Apr 2, 2023

Runtime Interface Reflection: rmw_connextdds stubs for new RMW interfaces ros2/rmw_connextdds#111

Merged

Runtime Interface Reflection: rmw_cyclonedds stubs for new RMW interfaces ros2/rmw_cyclonedds#447

Merged

methylDragon changed the title ~~Runtime Interface Reflection Subscription Prototype (REP-2011 subset)~~ Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset) Apr 6, 2023

methylDragon mentioned this issue Apr 7, 2023

Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset): BONUS: Allocator Refactor #1405

Open

28 tasks

methylDragon mentioned this issue Apr 28, 2023

Runtime Interface Reflection: rclcpp (Rebased) ros2/rclcpp#2176

Open

This was referenced Jul 19, 2023

Dynamic playback of locally-unknown types ros2/rosbag2#1428

Open

Type Description Distribution (REP-2011 subset / REP-2016) - formerly "message definitions on-the-wire" #1159

Closed

doruktiktiklar mentioned this issue May 5, 2024

Dynamic Message Deserialization ros2/rclcpp#2260

Open

tonynajjar mentioned this issue Jun 22, 2024

Feature Request: Dynamic Type Handling for Generic Subscriptions ros2/rclcpp#2568

Open

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Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset) #1374

Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset) #1374

methylDragon commented Jan 30, 2023 •

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allenh1 commented Feb 8, 2023

methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 •

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allenh1 commented Feb 8, 2023

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methylDragon commented Apr 6, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Apr 6, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Apr 7, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Apr 7, 2023

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methylDragon commented Apr 8, 2023 •

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wjwwood commented Apr 8, 2023

wjwwood commented Apr 8, 2023

wjwwood commented Apr 8, 2023

ros-discourse commented Sep 14, 2023

Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset) #1374

Dynamic Subscription (REP-2011 subset) #1374

Comments

methylDragon commented Jan 30, 2023 • edited Loading

Description

Demoing This Feature

Feature Description

Implementation Considerations

Relevant PRs

TODOs

Additional Waves

Additional notes/issues

const correctness and lifetime management of rosidl_message_type_support_t

FastDDS Issues

For Posterity

allenh1 commented Feb 8, 2023

methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 • edited Loading

methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 • edited Loading

allenh1 commented Feb 8, 2023

methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 • edited Loading

methylDragon commented Apr 2, 2023 • edited Loading

methylDragon commented Apr 6, 2023 • edited Loading

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methylDragon commented Apr 7, 2023 • edited Loading

methylDragon commented Apr 7, 2023

methylDragon commented Apr 7, 2023 • edited Loading

methylDragon commented Apr 8, 2023 • edited Loading

wjwwood commented Apr 8, 2023

wjwwood commented Apr 8, 2023

wjwwood commented Apr 8, 2023

ros-discourse commented Sep 14, 2023

methylDragon commented Jan 30, 2023 •

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const correctness and lifetime management of `rosidl_message_type_support_t`

methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Feb 8, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Apr 2, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Apr 6, 2023 •

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methylDragon commented Apr 6, 2023 •

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