Rclnodejs-cli NPM

rclnodejs-cli

Standalone commandline tools and ros2 cli extension for use with the ROS2 rclnodejs client library.

create-package
generate-ros-messages

Prerequisites

ROS2 Foxy or greater including the colcon build tools
Node.js versions 14.0-19.X
npm or yarn package manager
A shell environment that includes ROS2. See Configuring a ROS2 Environment for more info.

Installation

Install the rclnodejs-cli package globally or alternatively use npx to run rclnodejs-cli directly from a shell.

Note: Your shell environment should include ROS2.

To install rclnodejs-cli globally run the following command from a shell:

  npm install -g rclnodejs-cli

Optional

You can extend the ros2 cli with additional commands and options from this package by sourcing the `install/setup.bat,bash,ps1,sh file.

On Linux run:

  source <rclnodejs-cli-dir>/install/setup.bash

On Windows run:

  <rclnodejs-cli-dir>\install\setup.bat
or
  <rclnodejs-cli-dir>\install\setup.ps1

For more information on using an rclnodejs-cli tool from the ros2 cli see the references to tool/command user-guides below.

Usage

List available commands

If rclnodejs-cli is installed globally run:

  rclnodejs-cli -h

Alternatively use npx as shown:

  npx rclnodejs-cli -h

The default commandline output follows:

           _                 _       _
  _ __ ___| |_ __   ___   __| | ___ (_)___
 | '__/ __| | '_ \ / _ \ / _` |/ _ \| / __|
 | | | (__| | | | | (_) | (_| |  __/| \__ \
 |_|  \___|_|_| |_|\___/ \__,_|\___|/ |___/
                                  |__/
Usage: rclnodejs [command] [options]
    
Options:
  -h, --help                               display help for command

Commands:
  create-package <package-name> [options]  Create a ROS2 package for Nodejs development.
  generate-ros-messages                    Generate JavaScript code from ROS2 IDL interfaces
  help [command]                           display help for command

List a subcommand details

  rclnodejs-cli <subcommand> -h
or
  npx rclnodejs-cli <subcommand> -h

Example

  rclnodejs-cli create-package -h
or
  npx rclnodejs-cli create-package -h

Commands

create-package command

The rclnodejs-cli create-package command creates a hybrid ROS2-Nodejs package that can coexist and participate with other ROS2 packages in a ROS2 workspace and be run using the ROS2 launch facility. A ROS2-Nodejs package consist of a ROS2 package, specifically an ament-cmake ROS2 package, overlaid with a Nodejs package.

Learn more about the create-package tool.

generate-ros-messages command

Generate JavaScript messages corresponding to the interfaces (.IDL) in your ROS2 environment. Run this command from the root folder of a Nodejs package that includes rlcnodejs as a dependency. The JavaScript message files are created in the node_modules/rclnodejs/generated/ folder of the current Nodejs package.

Learn more about the generate-ros-messages tool.