I'm having some trouble loading a plugin and decided to open an issue to see if it's even possible. I am creating package_B where i'm creating a class that implements a plugin base class that exists in package_A.
Also, somewhere in package_A, they call loader->createInstance(plugin_type). When plugin_type equals the plugin i've created in package_B, it fails saying the plugin doesn't exist. But when the plugin type is one of the plugins created/exported from package_A, it works just fine. I feel like maybe pluginlib isn't built to do what i'm trying to make it do. Thoughts?
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package format="2">
<name>test</name>
<version>0.2.0</version>
<description>The test package</description>
<maintainer email="[email protected]">Jordan Lack</maintainer>
<license>TODO</license>
<buildtool_depend>catkin</buildtool_depend>
<build_depend>cmake_modules</build_depend>
<depend>eigen</depend>
<depend>hardware_interface</depend>
<depend>roscpp</depend>
<depend>pluginlib</depend>
<depend>tinyxml</depend>
<depend>boost</depend>
<depend>transmission_interface</depend>
<export>
<test plugin="${prefix}/plugins.xml" />
</export>
</package>
And here's my CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
project(test)
find_package(catkin REQUIRED hmi_cmake hardware_interface roscpp cmake_modules pluginlib
transmission_interface)
find_package(TinyXML REQUIRED)
find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
find_package(Eigen3 REQUIRED)
# check c++11 / c++0x
include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
check_cxx_compiler_flag("-std=c++0x" COMPILER_SUPPORTS_CXX0X)
if (COMPILER_SUPPORTS_CXX0X)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++0x")
else ()
message(FATAL_ERROR "The compiler ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} has no C++11 support. Please use a
different C++ compiler.")
endif ()
catkin_package(
INCLUDE_DIRS include
LIBRARIES ${PROJECT_NAME}
CATKIN_DEPENDS hardware_interface roscpp pluginlib transmission_interface
DEPENDS TinyXML Boost Eigen3
)
include_directories(include ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${TinyXML_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}
${EIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIRS})
add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} src/sensor_parser.cpp src/transmission_interface_loader.cpp)
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} ${catkin_LIBRARIES} ${TinyXML_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
install(DIRECTORY include/${PROJECT_NAME}/
DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_INCLUDE_DESTINATION})
install(TARGETS ${PROJECT_NAME}
ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION})
install(FILES plugins.xml
DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_SHARE_DESTINATION})
add_library(test_plugins test/test_plugins.cpp)
target_link_libraries(test_plugins ${catkin_LIBRARIES} ${PROJECT_NAME})
install(TARGETS test_plugins
ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION})
And finally my plugins.xml
<library path="lib/libtest_plugins">
<class type="test_namespace::TestActuatorPlugin" base_class_type="test_namespace::Actuator">
<description>
An actuator plugin for unit testing
</description>
</class>
<class type="test_namespace::TestImuPlugin" base_class_type="test_namespace::Imu">
<description>
An imu plugin for unit testing
</description>
</class>
<class type="test_namespace::TestForceTorquePlugin" base_class_type="test_namespace::ForceTorque">
<description>
A force/torque plugin for unit testing
</description>
</class>
<!--This next plugin is the one that ros_control can't load-->
<class type="test_namespace::MyRequisiteProvider" base_class_type="transmission_interface::RequisiteProvider">
<description>
A force/torque plugin for unit testing
</description>
</class>
</library>
Originally posted by jlack on ROS Answers with karma: 78 on 2017-06-27
Post score: 0
Original comments
Comment by jlack on 2017-06-27:
I can confirm if I build ros_control from source and put my plugin in ros controls ros_control_plugins.xml it loads successfully. I feel like it has to be possible with my plugin in a different package. Isn't that how Gazebo loads other peoples Gazebo plugins? oh package_A is ros_control
Comment by gvdhoorn on 2017-06-28:
If I understand the description of your setup correctly then this should be fully supported, but whether it'll be succesful depends on your package.xml and CMakeLists.txt being correct. Could you edit your question and include both? Use the Preformatted Text (101010) button.
Comment by jlack on 2017-06-28:
ok @gvdhoorn I have added the requested bits.
Comment by gvdhoorn on 2017-06-28:
In order to be considered a plugin for something, your plugin needs a run_depend on that something. I can't really say whether that is the case here. See #q163476 for a related question.
Comment by jlack on 2017-06-28:
Since this is package.xml format 2, the <depend> tag should mean both <build_depend> and <run_depend> I believe. However your link raised a different question. In my package.xml, should my export line be<transmission_interface plugin="${prefix}/plugins.xml" />?