Add RMW serialize and deserialize functions

Author: minggangw

binding.gyp

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
         './src/rcl_names_bindings.cpp',
         './src/rcl_node_bindings.cpp',
         './src/rcl_publisher_bindings.cpp',
+        './src/rcl_serialization_bindings.cpp',
         './src/rcl_service_bindings.cpp',
         './src/rcl_subscription_bindings.cpp',
         './src/rcl_time_point_bindings.cpp',

index.js

@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ const {
   getActionNamesAndTypes,
 } = require('./lib/action/graph.js');
 const ServiceIntrospectionStates = require('./lib/service_introspection.js');
+const {
+  serializeMessage,
+  deserializeMessage,
+} = require('./lib/serialization.js');
 
 /**
  * Get the version of the generator that was used for the currently present interfaces.
@@ -182,6 +186,20 @@ let rcl = {
 
   /** {@link getActionNamesAndTypes} function */
   getActionNamesAndTypes: getActionNamesAndTypes,
+  /**
+   * Serialize a message to a buffer.
+   * @param {Object} message - The message to serialize.
+   * @return {Buffer} The serialized message as a Buffer.
+   */
+  serializeMessage: serializeMessage,
+
+  /**
+   * Deserialize a message from a buffer.
+   * @param {Buffer} buffer - The buffer containing the serialized message.
+   * @param {Object} typeClass - The class of the message type to deserialize into.
+   * @return {Object} The deserialized message object.
+   */
+  deserializeMessage: deserializeMessage,
 
   /**
    * Create and initialize a node.

lib/node.js

@@ -1816,7 +1816,7 @@ class Node extends rclnodejs.ShadowNode {
       return result;
     });
 
-    Type.destoryRawROS(message);
+    Type.destroyRawROS(message);
   }
 
   _addActionClient(actionClient) {

lib/serialization.js

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025, The Robot Web Tools Contributors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+'use strict';
+
+const rclnodejs = require('bindings')('rclnodejs');
+
+class Serialization {
+  static serializeMessage(message, typeClass) {
+    if (!(message instanceof typeClass)) {
+      throw new TypeError('Message must be a valid ros2 message type');
+    }
+    return rclnodejs.serialize(
+      typeClass.type().pkgName,
+      typeClass.type().subFolder,
+      typeClass.type().interfaceName,
+      message.serialize()
+    );
+  }
+
+  static deserializeMessage(buffer, typeClass) {
+    if (!(buffer instanceof Buffer)) {
+      throw new TypeError('Buffer is required for deserialization');
+    }
+    const rosMsg = new typeClass();
+    rclnodejs.deserialize(
+      typeClass.type().pkgName,
+      typeClass.type().subFolder,
+      typeClass.type().interfaceName,
+      buffer,
+      rosMsg.toRawROS()
+    );
+    return rosMsg;
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = Serialization;

rosidl_gen/templates/message.dot

@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ class {{=objectWrapper}} {
   {{~}}
   }
 
-  static destoryRawROS(msg) {
+  static destroyRawROS(msg) {
     {{=objectWrapper}}.freeStruct(msg.refObject);
   }
 

src/addon.cpp

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "rcl_names_bindings.h"
 #include "rcl_node_bindings.h"
 #include "rcl_publisher_bindings.h"
+#include "rcl_serialization_bindings.h"
 #include "rcl_service_bindings.h"
 #include "rcl_subscription_bindings.h"
 #include "rcl_time_point_bindings.h"
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ Napi::Object InitModule(Napi::Env env, Napi::Object exports) {
   rclnodejs::InitEventHandleBindings(env, exports);
 #endif
   rclnodejs::InitLifecycleBindings(env, exports);
+  rclnodejs::InitSerializationBindings(env, exports);
   rclnodejs::ShadowNode::Init(env, exports);
   rclnodejs::RclHandle::Init(env, exports);
 

src/rcl_serialization_bindings.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025, The Robot Web Tools Contributors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include "rcl_serialization_bindings.h"
+
+#include <rmw/rmw.h>
+#include <rmw/serialized_message.h>
+#include <rosidl_runtime_c/message_type_support_struct.h>
+
+#include <string>
+
+#include "rcl_utilities.h"
+
+namespace {
+
+struct SerializedMessage {
+  explicit SerializedMessage(Napi::Env env, rcutils_allocator_t allocator)
+      : env(env) {
+    rcl_msg = rmw_get_zero_initialized_serialized_message();
+    rcutils_ret_t rcutils_ret =
+        rmw_serialized_message_init(&rcl_msg, 0u, &allocator);
+    if (RCUTILS_RET_OK != rcutils_ret) {
+      Napi::Error::New(env, "failed to initialize serialized message")
+          .ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+    }
+  };
+
+  ~SerializedMessage() {
+    rcutils_ret_t ret = rmw_serialized_message_fini(&rcl_msg);
+    if (RCUTILS_RET_OK != ret) {
+      Napi::Error::New(env,
+                       "failed to fini rcl_serialized_msg_t in destructor.")
+          .ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+      rcutils_reset_error();
+    }
+  };
+
+  rcl_serialized_message_t rcl_msg;
+  Napi::Env env;
+};
+
+}  // namespace
+
+namespace rclnodejs {
+
+Napi::Value Serialize(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
+  Napi::Env env = info.Env();
+
+  std::string package_name = info[0].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+  std::string message_sub_folder = info[1].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+  std::string message_name = info[2].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+  void* ros_msg = info[3].As<Napi::Buffer<char>>().Data();
+  const rosidl_message_type_support_t* ts =
+      GetMessageTypeSupport(package_name, message_sub_folder, message_name);
+
+  // Create a serialized message object.
+  SerializedMessage serialized_msg(env, rcutils_get_default_allocator());
+
+  // Serialize
+  rmw_ret_t rmw_ret = rmw_serialize(ros_msg, ts, &serialized_msg.rcl_msg);
+  if (RMW_RET_OK != rmw_ret) {
+    Napi::Error::New(env, "Failed to serialize ROS message")
+        .ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+    return env.Undefined();
+  }
+  Napi::Buffer<char> buffer = Napi::Buffer<char>::Copy(
+      env, reinterpret_cast<const char*>(serialized_msg.rcl_msg.buffer),
+      serialized_msg.rcl_msg.buffer_length);
+  return buffer;
+}
+
+Napi::Value Deserialize(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
+  Napi::Env env = info.Env();
+
+  std::string package_name = info[0].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+  std::string message_sub_folder = info[1].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+  std::string message_name = info[2].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+  const rosidl_message_type_support_t* ts =
+      GetMessageTypeSupport(package_name, message_sub_folder, message_name);
+  Napi::Buffer<char> serialized = info[3].As<Napi::Buffer<char>>();
+  void* msg_taken = info[4].As<Napi::Buffer<char>>().Data();
+
+  // Create a serialized message object
+  rcl_serialized_message_t serialized_msg =
+      rmw_get_zero_initialized_serialized_message();
+  // Just copy pointer to avoid extra allocation and copy
+  serialized_msg.buffer_capacity = serialized.Length();
+  serialized_msg.buffer_length = serialized.Length();
+  serialized_msg.buffer = reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(serialized.Data());
+
+  // Deserialize
+  rmw_ret_t rmw_ret = rmw_deserialize(&serialized_msg, ts, msg_taken);
+
+  if (RMW_RET_OK != rmw_ret) {
+    Napi::Error::New(env, "failed to deserialize ROS message")
+        .ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+  }
+
+  return env.Undefined();
+}
+
+Napi::Object InitSerializationBindings(Napi::Env env, Napi::Object exports) {
+  exports.Set("serialize", Napi::Function::New(env, Serialize));
+  exports.Set("deserialize", Napi::Function::New(env, Deserialize));
+  return exports;
+}
+
+}  // namespace rclnodejs

src/rcl_serialization_bindings.h

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025, The Robot Web Tools Contributors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#ifndef SRC_RCL_SERIALIZATION_BINDINGS_H_
+#define SRC_RCL_SERIALIZATION_BINDINGS_H_
+
+#include <napi.h>
+
+namespace rclnodejs {
+
+Napi::Object InitSerializationBindings(Napi::Env env, Napi::Object exports);
+
+}
+
+#endif  // SRC_RCL_SERIALIZATION_BINDINGS_H_

test/test-serialization.js

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025, The Robot Web Tools Contributors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+const rclnodejs = require('../index.js');
+const { serializeMessage, deserializeMessage } = require('../index.js');
+
+describe('rclnodejs publisher test suite', function () {
+  [
+    {
+      type: 'std_msgs/msg/String',
+      value: 'Hello ROS 2.0 Serialization!',
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'std_msgs/msg/MultiArrayDimension',
+      value: { label: 'label name 0', size: 256, stride: 4 },
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'geometry_msgs/msg/Point',
+      value: { x: 1.5, y: 2.75, z: 3.0 },
+    },
+  ].forEach((testCase) => {
+    it('Test serialize a message of type ' + testCase.type, function () {
+      const MyMessage = rclnodejs.require(testCase.type);
+      const rosMsg = new MyMessage(testCase.value);
+      const buffer = serializeMessage(rosMsg, MyMessage);
+
+      assert(buffer instanceof Buffer);
+      const deserializedRosMsg = deserializeMessage(buffer, MyMessage);
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(
+        deserializedRosMsg.toPlainObject(),
+        rosMsg.toPlainObject()
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});

types/index.d.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 /// <reference path="./base.d.ts" />
 
 declare module 'rclnodejs' {
+  type Class = new (...args: any[]) => any;
+
   /**
    * Create a node.
    *
@@ -187,4 +189,22 @@ declare module 'rclnodejs' {
    * @returns An array of the names and types.
    */
   function getActionNamesAndTypes(node: Node): NamesAndTypesQueryResult;
+
+  /**
+   * Serialize a message to a Buffer.
+   *
+   * @param message - The message to be serialized.
+   * @param typeClass - The type class of the message.
+   * @returns A Buffer containing the serialized message.
+   */
+  function serializeMessage(message: object, typeClass: Class): Buffer;
+
+  /**
+   * Deserialize a message from a Buffer.
+   *
+   * @param buffer - The Buffer containing the serialized message.
+   * @param typeClass - The type class of the message.
+   * @returns An Object representing the deserialized message.
+   */
+  function deserializeMessage(buffer: Buffer, typeClass: Class): object;
 }