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C API providing common ROS client library functionality.
Classes | Typedefs | Functions
subscription.h File Reference
#include "rosidl_generator_c/message_type_support_struct.h"
#include "rcl/macros.h"
#include "rcl/node.h"
#include "rcl/visibility_control.h"
Include dependency graph for subscription.h:
This graph shows which files directly or indirectly include this file:

Go to the source code of this file.

Classes

struct  rcl_subscription_t
 Structure which encapsulates a ROS Subscription. More...
 
struct  rcl_subscription_options_t
 Options available for a rcl subscription. More...
 

Typedefs

typedef struct rcl_subscription_t rcl_subscription_t
 Structure which encapsulates a ROS Subscription. More...
 
typedef struct rcl_subscription_options_t rcl_subscription_options_t
 Options available for a rcl subscription. More...
 

Functions

rcl_subscription_t rcl_get_zero_initialized_subscription (void)
 Return a rcl_subscription_t struct with members set to NULL. More...
 
rcl_ret_t rcl_subscription_init (rcl_subscription_t *subscription, const rcl_node_t *node, const rosidl_message_type_support_t *type_support, const char *topic_name, const rcl_subscription_options_t *options)
 Initialize a ROS subscription. More...
 
rcl_ret_t rcl_subscription_fini (rcl_subscription_t *subscription, rcl_node_t *node)
 Finalize a rcl_subscription_t. More...
 
rcl_subscription_options_t rcl_subscription_get_default_options (void)
 Return the default subscription options in a rcl_subscription_options_t. More...
 
rcl_ret_t rcl_take (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription, void *ros_message, rmw_message_info_t *message_info, rmw_subscription_allocation_t *allocation)
 Take a ROS message from a topic using a rcl subscription. More...
 
rcl_ret_t rcl_take_serialized_message (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription, rcl_serialized_message_t *serialized_message, rmw_message_info_t *message_info, rmw_subscription_allocation_t *allocation)
 Take a serialized raw message from a topic using a rcl subscription. More...
 
rcl_ret_t rcl_take_loaned_message (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription, void **loaned_message, rmw_message_info_t *message_info, rmw_subscription_allocation_t *allocation)
 Take a loaned message from a topic using a rcl subscription. More...
 
rcl_ret_t rcl_return_loaned_message_from_subscription (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription, void *loaned_message)
 Return a loaned message from a topic using a rcl subscription. More...
 
const char * rcl_subscription_get_topic_name (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription)
 Get the topic name for the subscription. More...
 
const rcl_subscription_options_trcl_subscription_get_options (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription)
 Return the rcl subscription options. More...
 
rmw_subscription_trcl_subscription_get_rmw_handle (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription)
 Return the rmw subscription handle. More...
 
bool rcl_subscription_is_valid (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription)
 Check that the subscription is valid. More...
 
rmw_ret_t rcl_subscription_get_publisher_count (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription, size_t *publisher_count)
 Get the number of publishers matched to a subscription. More...
 
const rmw_qos_profile_trcl_subscription_get_actual_qos (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription)
 Get the actual qos settings of the subscription. More...
 
bool rcl_subscription_can_loan_messages (const rcl_subscription_t *subscription)
 Check if subscription instance can loan messages. More...
 

Typedef Documentation

◆ rcl_subscription_t

Structure which encapsulates a ROS Subscription.

◆ rcl_subscription_options_t

Options available for a rcl subscription.

Function Documentation

◆ rcl_get_zero_initialized_subscription()

rcl_subscription_t rcl_get_zero_initialized_subscription ( void  )

Return a rcl_subscription_t struct with members set to NULL.

Should be called to get a null rcl_subscription_t before passing to rcl_subscription_init().

◆ rcl_subscription_init()

rcl_ret_t rcl_subscription_init ( rcl_subscription_t subscription,
const rcl_node_t node,
const rosidl_message_type_support_t *  type_support,
const char *  topic_name,
const rcl_subscription_options_t options 
)

Initialize a ROS subscription.

After calling this function on a rcl_subscription_t, it can be used to take messages of the given type to the given topic using rcl_take().

The given rcl_node_t must be valid and the resulting rcl_subscription_t is only valid as long as the given rcl_node_t remains valid.

The rosidl_message_type_support_t is obtained on a per .msg type basis. When the user defines a ROS message, code is generated which provides the required rosidl_message_type_support_t object. This object can be obtained using a language appropriate mechanism.

Todo:
TODO(wjwwood) write these instructions once and link to it instead For C a macro can be used (for example std_msgs/String):
#include <rosidl_generator_c/message_type_support_struct.h>
#include <std_msgs/msg/string.h>
const rosidl_message_type_support_t * string_ts =
ROSIDL_GET_MSG_TYPE_SUPPORT(std_msgs, msg, String);

For C++ a template function is used:

#include <rosidl_generator_cpp/message_type_support.hpp>
#include <std_msgs/msgs/string.hpp>
using rosidl_typesupport_cpp::get_message_type_support_handle;
const rosidl_message_type_support_t * string_ts =
get_message_type_support_handle<std_msgs::msg::String>();

The rosidl_message_type_support_t object contains message type specific information used to publish messages.

The topic name must be a c string which follows the topic and service name format rules for unexpanded names, also known as non-fully qualified names:

See also
rcl_expand_topic_name

The options struct allows the user to set the quality of service settings as well as a custom allocator which is used when (de)initializing the subscription to allocate space for incidental things, e.g. the topic name string.

Expected usage (for C messages):

#include <rcl/rcl.h>
#include <rosidl_generator_c/message_type_support_struct.h>
#include <std_msgs/msg/string.h>
rcl_ret_t ret = rcl_node_init(&node, "node_name", "/my_namespace", &node_ops);
// ... error handling
const rosidl_message_type_support_t * ts =
ROSIDL_GET_MSG_TYPE_SUPPORT(std_msgs, msg, String);
ret = rcl_subscription_init(&subscription, &node, ts, "chatter", &subscription_ops);
// ... error handling, and when finished deinitialization
ret = rcl_subscription_fini(&subscription, &node);
// ... error handling for rcl_subscription_fini()
ret = rcl_node_fini(&node);
// ... error handling for rcl_node_fini()

Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory Yes
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[out]subscriptionpreallocated subscription structure
[in]nodevalid rcl node handle
[in]type_supporttype support object for the topic's type
[in]topic_namethe name of the topic
[in]optionssubscription options, including quality of service settings
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if subscription was initialized successfully, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_NODE_INVALID if the node is invalid, or
RCL_RET_BAD_ALLOC if allocating memory failed, or
RCL_RET_TOPIC_NAME_INVALID if the given topic name is invalid, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_subscription_fini()

rcl_ret_t rcl_subscription_fini ( rcl_subscription_t subscription,
rcl_node_t node 
)

Finalize a rcl_subscription_t.

After calling, the node will no longer be subscribed on this topic (assuming this is the only subscription on this topic in this node).

After calling, calls to rcl_wait and rcl_take will fail when using this subscription. Additioanlly rcl_wait will be interrupted if currently blocking. However, the given node handle is still valid.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory Yes
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in,out]subscriptionhandle to the subscription to be deinitialized
[in]nodehandle to the node used to create the subscription
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if subscription was deinitialized successfully, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_INVALID if the subscription is invalid, or
RCL_RET_NODE_INVALID if the node is invalid, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_subscription_get_default_options()

rcl_subscription_options_t rcl_subscription_get_default_options ( void  )

Return the default subscription options in a rcl_subscription_options_t.

The defaults are:

◆ rcl_take()

rcl_ret_t rcl_take ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription,
void *  ros_message,
rmw_message_info_t message_info,
rmw_subscription_allocation_t allocation 
)

Take a ROS message from a topic using a rcl subscription.

It is the job of the caller to ensure that the type of the ros_message argument and the type associate with the subscription, via the type support, match. Passing a different type to rcl_take produces undefined behavior and cannot be checked by this function and therefore no deliberate error will occur.

TODO(wjwwood) blocking of take? TODO(wjwwood) pre-, during-, and post-conditions for message ownership? TODO(wjwwood) is rcl_take thread-safe? TODO(wjwwood) Should there be an rcl_message_info_t?

The ros_message pointer should point to an already allocated ROS message struct of the correct type, into which the taken ROS message will be copied if one is available. If taken is false after calling, then the ROS message will be unmodified.

The taken boolean may be false even if a wait set reports that the subscription was ready to be taken from in some cases, e.g. when the state of the subscription changes it may cause the wait set to wake up but subsequent takes to fail to take anything.

If allocation is required when taking the message, e.g. if space needs to be allocated for a dynamically sized array in the target message, then the allocator given in the subscription options is used.

The rmw message_info struct contains meta information about this particular message instance, like what the GUID of the publisher which published it originally or whether or not the message received from within the same process. The message_info argument should be an already allocated rmw_message_info_t structure. Passing NULL for message_info will result in the argument being ignored.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory Maybe [1]
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes

[1] only if required when filling the message, avoided for fixed sizes

Parameters
[in]subscriptionthe handle to the subscription from which to take
[in,out]ros_messagetype-erased ptr to a allocated ROS message
[out]message_informw struct which contains meta-data for the message
[in]allocationstructure pointer used for memory preallocation (may be NULL)
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if the message was published, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_INVALID if the subscription is invalid, or
RCL_RET_BAD_ALLOC if allocating memory failed, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_TAKE_FAILED if take failed but no error occurred in the middleware, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_take_serialized_message()

rcl_ret_t rcl_take_serialized_message ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription,
rcl_serialized_message_t serialized_message,
rmw_message_info_t message_info,
rmw_subscription_allocation_t allocation 
)

Take a serialized raw message from a topic using a rcl subscription.

In contrast to rcl_take, this function stores the taken message in its raw binary representation. It is the job of the caller to ensure that the type associate with the subscription matches, and can optionally be deserialized into its ROS message via, the correct type support. If the serialized_message parameter contains enough preallocated memory, the incoming message can be taken without any additional memory allocation. If not, the function will dynamically allocate enough memory for the message. Passing a different type to rcl_take produces undefined behavior and cannot be checked by this function and therefore no deliberate error will occur.

Apart from the differences above, this function behaves like rcl_take.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory Maybe [1]
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes

[1] only if storage in the serialized_message is insufficient

Parameters
[in]subscriptionthe handle to the subscription from which to take
[in,out]serialized_messagepointer to a (pre-allocated) serialized message.
[out]message_informw struct which contains meta-data for the message
[in]allocationstructure pointer used for memory preallocation (may be NULL)
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if the message was published, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_INVALID if the subscription is invalid, or
RCL_RET_BAD_ALLOC if allocating memory failed, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_TAKE_FAILED if take failed but no error occurred in the middleware, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_take_loaned_message()

rcl_ret_t rcl_take_loaned_message ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription,
void **  loaned_message,
rmw_message_info_t message_info,
rmw_subscription_allocation_t allocation 
)

Take a loaned message from a topic using a rcl subscription.

Depending on the middleware, incoming messages can be loaned to the user's callback without further copying. The implicit contract here is that the middleware owns the memory allocated for this message. The user must not destroy the message, but rather has to return it with a call to

See also
rcl_return_loaned_message to the middleware.

Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionthe handle to the subscription from which to take
[in,out]loaned_messagea pointer to the loaned messages.
[out]message_informw struct which contains meta-data for the message.
[in]allocationstructure pointer used for memory preallocation (may be NULL)
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if the loaned message sequence was taken, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_INVALID if the subscription is invalid, or
RCL_RET_BAD_ALLOC if allocating memory failed, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_TAKE_FAILED if take failed but no error occurred in the middleware, or
RCL_RET_UNIMPLEMENTED if the middleware does not support that feature, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_return_loaned_message_from_subscription()

rcl_ret_t rcl_return_loaned_message_from_subscription ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription,
void *  loaned_message 
)

Return a loaned message from a topic using a rcl subscription.

If a loaned message was previously obtained from the middleware with a call to

See also
rcl_take_loaned_message, this message has to be returned to indicate to the middleware that the user no longer needs that memory. The user must not delete the message.

Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionthe handle to the subscription from which to take
[in]loaned_messagea pointer to the loaned messages.
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if the message was published, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_INVALID if the subscription is invalid, or
RCL_RET_UNIMPLEMENTED if the middleware does not support that feature, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_subscription_get_topic_name()

const char* rcl_subscription_get_topic_name ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription)

Get the topic name for the subscription.

This function returns the subscription's internal topic name string. This function can fail, and therefore return NULL, if the:

  • subscription is NULL
  • subscription is invalid (never called init, called fini, or invalid)

The returned string is only valid as long as the subscription is valid. The value of the string may change if the topic name changes, and therefore copying the string is recommended if this is a concern.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionthe pointer to the subscription
Returns
name string if successful, otherwise NULL

◆ rcl_subscription_get_options()

const rcl_subscription_options_t* rcl_subscription_get_options ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription)

Return the rcl subscription options.

This function returns the subscription's internal options struct. This function can fail, and therefore return NULL, if the:

  • subscription is NULL
  • subscription is invalid (never called init, called fini, or invalid)

The returned struct is only valid as long as the subscription is valid. The values in the struct may change if the subscription's options change, and therefore copying the struct is recommended if this is a concern.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionpointer to the subscription
Returns
options struct if successful, otherwise NULL

◆ rcl_subscription_get_rmw_handle()

rmw_subscription_t* rcl_subscription_get_rmw_handle ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription)

Return the rmw subscription handle.

The handle returned is a pointer to the internally held rmw handle. This function can fail, and therefore return NULL, if the:

  • subscription is NULL
  • subscription is invalid (never called init, called fini, or invalid)

The returned handle is made invalid if the subscription is finalized or if rcl_shutdown() is called. The returned handle is not guaranteed to be valid for the life time of the subscription as it may be finalized and recreated itself. Therefore it is recommended to get the handle from the subscription using this function each time it is needed and avoid use of the handle concurrently with functions that might change it.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionpointer to the rcl subscription
Returns
rmw subscription handle if successful, otherwise NULL

◆ rcl_subscription_is_valid()

bool rcl_subscription_is_valid ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription)

Check that the subscription is valid.

The bool returned is false if subscription is invalid. The bool returned is true otherwise. In the case where false is to be returned, an error message is set. This function cannot fail.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe No
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionpointer to the rcl subscription
Returns
true if subscription is valid, otherwise false

◆ rcl_subscription_get_publisher_count()

rmw_ret_t rcl_subscription_get_publisher_count ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription,
size_t *  publisher_count 
)

Get the number of publishers matched to a subscription.

Used to get the internal count of publishers matched to a subscription.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe Yes
Uses Atomics Maybe [1]
Lock-Free Maybe [1]

[1] only if the underlying rmw doesn't make use of this feature

Parameters
[in]subscriptionpointer to the rcl subscription
[out]publisher_countnumber of matched publishers
Returns
RCL_RET_OK if the count was retrieved, or
RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if any arguments are invalid, or
RCL_RET_SUBSCRIPTION_INVALID if the subscription is invalid, or
RCL_RET_ERROR if an unspecified error occurs.

◆ rcl_subscription_get_actual_qos()

const rmw_qos_profile_t* rcl_subscription_get_actual_qos ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription)

Get the actual qos settings of the subscription.

Used to get the actual qos settings of the subscription. The actual configuration applied when using RMW_*_SYSTEM_DEFAULT can only be resolved after the creation of the subscription, and it depends on the underlying rmw implementation. If the underlying setting in use can't be represented in ROS terms, it will be set to RMW_*_UNKNOWN. The returned struct is only valid as long as the rcl_subscription_t is valid.


Attribute Adherence
Allocates Memory No
Thread-Safe Yes
Uses Atomics No
Lock-Free Yes
Parameters
[in]subscriptionpointer to the rcl subscription
Returns
qos struct if successful, otherwise NULL

◆ rcl_subscription_can_loan_messages()

bool rcl_subscription_can_loan_messages ( const rcl_subscription_t subscription)

Check if subscription instance can loan messages.

Depending on the middleware and the message type, this will return true if the middleware can allocate a ROS message instance.