Ability to load ros 2 message files directly from filesystem

[amacneil]

Rather than needing --ament-prefix-path, let me specify a folder to recursively search for the appropriate missing msg files.

[V0XNIHILI]

Do you know how to point to the missing schemas? Pointing to my ROS2 project folder does not seem to help.

[jtbandes]

@V0XNIHILI Have you tried using --ament-prefix-path as described here? https://mcap.dev/getting-started/ros-2

More info about the flag is available from mcap help convert:

      --ament-prefix-path string   (ros2 only) list of directories to search for message definitions
                                   separated by ':' on Unix-like platforms and ';' on Windows
                                   (e.g /opt/ros/galactic:/opt/ros/noetic, or C:\opt\ros\galactic;C:\opt\ros\noetic)

[V0XNIHILI]

Yes, I have tried that. When I pass the contents of the environment variable AMENT_PREFIX_PATH with that flag, the same happens. However, the error comes back so fast after pressing enter that I have the idea that it does not really consider my argument.

I run it like this:

./mcap convert rosbag2_2022_08_09-14_19_47_0.db3 test.mcap --ament-prefix-path /home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/viz:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/testing:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/simulator:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/fake_state_estimation:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/fake_sensors:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/fake_perception:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/ava_state_estimation:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/vehicle_config:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/rviz_controller_plugin:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/fake_embedded:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/fake_dynamics:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/controls_bypass:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/collision_detector:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/ava_planning:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/sim_msgs:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/se_msgs:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/rviz_interface_plugin:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/rosbag_frame_loader:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/mission_control:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/labeling_assist:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/labeling_msgs:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/keyboard_controls:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/cms_car:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/can_interface:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/ava_fake_trackdrive:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/embedded_msgs:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/ava_perception:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/cv_msgs:/home/parallels/Projects/ROS2-Project/install/cms_car_msgs:/opt/ros/galactic

Then, the output is:

failed to convert file: failed to find schema for embedded_msgs/msg/ASControlsEstimations: schema not found

However, the package that contains the missing messages is built successfully and can also be found/seen:

---

I 'installed' mcap like below (taken from this - https://github.com/foxglove/mcap/tree/main/go/cli/mcap - page)

wget https://github.com/foxglove/mcap/releases/latest/download/mcap-linux-amd64 -O mcap
chmod +x mcap

[vj2181]

Did you figure this out - @V0XNIHILI ? I have the same error - not sure how to point the tool to the correct message definition.

[V0XNIHILI]

No, unfortunately not :(

Maybe @jtbandes, do you have some ideas/suggestions? Because I am unable to use Foxglove Studio without the MCAP CLI tool working

[vj2181]

In my case, echo $AMENT_PREFIX_PATH already has the correct directories with the message definitions - still the CLI tool fails with "schema not found" message. Explicitly specifying the directories does not help as well. Will wait and see if anyone else replies here.

[V0XNIHILI]

@jtbandes would you have time to take a look at this? Because this leaves us unable to use the Foxglove Data Platform

[amacneil]

@james-rms putting on your radar

[jtbandes]

@V0XNIHILI @vj2181 are you folks using .msg files or .idl?

[V0XNIHILI]

I am using .msg files

[V0XNIHILI]

Any update on this?

[amacneil]

If you are having difficulty with mcap convert, I recommend trying ros2 bag convert instead. It should achieve the same thing but will be more reliable at finding message definitions since it has access to the ros workspace.

[james-rms]

Closing this issue as not planned - for complex workspaces I recommend using ros2 bag convert with the mcap storage plugin.