Support creating node with ros args (#1166)

Adds support for passing ROS command-line arguments when creating nodes by extending both the native and JavaScript APIs and verifying behavior with new tests.

- Introduced helper functions to marshal JS arrays into C-style `argv` and detect unparsed ROS args
- Extended the C++ `CreateNode` binding and the JS `Node` and `createNode` wrappers to accept `args` and a `useGlobalArguments` flag
- Added TypeScript and JavaScript tests covering normal remapping, global arguments, and invalid-argument error handling

Fix: #1165

Author: minggangw

index.js

@@ -189,6 +189,10 @@ let rcl = {
    * @param {string} [namespace=''] - The namespace used in ROS.
    * @param {Context} [context=Context.defaultContext()] - The context to create the node in.
    * @param {NodeOptions} [options=NodeOptions.defaultOptions] - The options to configure the new node behavior.
+   * @param {Array} [args=[]] - The arguments to pass to the node.
+   * @param {boolean} [useGlobalArguments=true] - If true, the node will use the global arguments
+   *                                             from the context, otherwise it will only use the arguments
+   *                                             passed in the args parameter.
    * @return {Node} A new instance of the specified node.
    * @throws {Error} If the given context is not registered.
    * @deprecated since 0.18.0, Use new Node constructor.
@@ -197,9 +201,18 @@ let rcl = {
     nodeName,
     namespace = '',
     context = Context.defaultContext(),
-    options = NodeOptions.defaultOptions
+    options = NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+    args = [],
+    useGlobalArguments = true
   ) {
-    return new this.Node(nodeName, namespace, context, options);
+    return new this.Node(
+      nodeName,
+      namespace,
+      context,
+      options,
+      args,
+      useGlobalArguments
+    );
   },
 
   /**

lib/node.js

@@ -66,24 +66,32 @@ class Node extends rclnodejs.ShadowNode {
     nodeName,
     namespace = '',
     context = Context.defaultContext(),
-    options = NodeOptions.defaultOptions
+    options = NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+    args = [],
+    useGlobalArguments = true
   ) {
     super();
 
     if (typeof nodeName !== 'string' || typeof namespace !== 'string') {
       throw new TypeError('Invalid argument.');
     }
 
-    this._init(nodeName, namespace, options, context);
+    this._init(nodeName, namespace, options, context, args, useGlobalArguments);
     debug(
       'Finish initializing node, name = %s and namespace = %s.',
       nodeName,
       namespace
     );
   }
 
-  _init(name, namespace, options, context) {
-    this.handle = rclnodejs.createNode(name, namespace, context.handle);
+  _init(name, namespace, options, context, args, useGlobalArguments) {
+    this.handle = rclnodejs.createNode(
+      name,
+      namespace,
+      context.handle,
+      args,
+      useGlobalArguments
+    );
     Object.defineProperty(this, 'handle', {
       configurable: false,
       writable: false,

src/rcl_context_bindings.cpp

@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 #include <rcl/logging.h>
 #include <rcl/rcl.h>
 
-#include <cstdio>
 #include <rcpputils/scope_exit.hpp>
 // NOLINTNEXTLINE
 #include <string>
@@ -53,18 +52,9 @@ Napi::Value Init(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
 
   // Preprocess argc & argv
   Napi::Array jsArgv = info[1].As<Napi::Array>();
-  int argc = jsArgv.Length();
-  char** argv = nullptr;
-
-  if (argc > 0) {
-    argv = reinterpret_cast<char**>(malloc(argc * sizeof(char*)));
-    for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
-      std::string arg = jsArgv.Get(i).As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
-      int len = arg.length() + 1;
-      argv[i] = reinterpret_cast<char*>(malloc(len * sizeof(char)));
-      snprintf(argv[i], len, "%s", arg.c_str());
-    }
-  }
+  size_t argc = jsArgv.Length();
+  char** argv = AbstractArgsFromNapiArray(jsArgv);
+
   // Set up the domain id.
   size_t domain_id = RCL_DEFAULT_DOMAIN_ID;
   if (info.Length() > 2 && info[2].IsBigInt()) {
@@ -87,11 +77,7 @@ Napi::Value Init(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
       RCL_RET_OK, rcl_logging_configure(&context->global_arguments, &allocator),
       rcl_get_error_string().str);
 
-  for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
-    free(argv[i]);
-  }
-  free(argv);
-
+  RCPPUTILS_SCOPE_EXIT({ FreeArgs(argv, argc); });
   return env.Undefined();
 }
 

src/rcl_node_bindings.cpp

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 #include <rcl_yaml_param_parser/parser.h>
 #include <rcl_yaml_param_parser/types.h>
 
+#include <rcpputils/scope_exit.hpp>
+// NOLINTNEXTLINE
 #include <string>
 
 #include "macros.h"
@@ -180,10 +182,34 @@ Napi::Value CreateNode(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
   rcl_context_t* context =
       reinterpret_cast<rcl_context_t*>(context_handle->ptr());
 
-  rcl_node_t* node = reinterpret_cast<rcl_node_t*>(malloc(sizeof(rcl_node_t)));
+  Napi::Array jsArgv = info[3].As<Napi::Array>();
+  size_t argc = jsArgv.Length();
+  char** argv = AbstractArgsFromNapiArray(jsArgv);
+  RCPPUTILS_SCOPE_EXIT({ FreeArgs(argv, argc); });
+
+  rcl_arguments_t arguments = rcl_get_zero_initialized_arguments();
+  rcl_ret_t ret =
+      rcl_parse_arguments(argc, argv, rcl_get_default_allocator(), &arguments);
+  if ((ret != RCL_RET_OK) || HasUnparsedROSArgs(arguments)) {
+    Napi::Error::New(env, "failed to parse arguments")
+        .ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+    return env.Undefined();
+  }
 
+  RCPPUTILS_SCOPE_EXIT({
+    if (RCL_RET_OK != rcl_arguments_fini(&arguments)) {
+      Napi::Error::New(env, "failed to fini arguments")
+          .ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+      rcl_reset_error();
+    }
+  });
+  bool use_global_arguments = info[4].As<Napi::Boolean>().Value();
+  rcl_node_t* node = reinterpret_cast<rcl_node_t*>(malloc(sizeof(rcl_node_t)));
   *node = rcl_get_zero_initialized_node();
+
   rcl_node_options_t options = rcl_node_get_default_options();
+  options.use_global_arguments = use_global_arguments;
+  options.arguments = arguments;
 
   THROW_ERROR_IF_NOT_EQUAL(RCL_RET_OK,
                            rcl_node_init(node, node_name.c_str(),

src/rcl_utilities.cpp

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <rmw/topic_endpoint_info.h>
 #include <uv.h>
 
+#include <cstdio>
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 
@@ -260,4 +261,34 @@ Napi::Array ConvertToJSTopicEndpointInfoList(
   return list;
 }
 
+char** AbstractArgsFromNapiArray(const Napi::Array& jsArgv) {
+  size_t argc = jsArgv.Length();
+  char** argv = nullptr;
+
+  if (argc > 0) {
+    argv = reinterpret_cast<char**>(malloc(argc * sizeof(char*)));
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
+      std::string arg = jsArgv.Get(i).As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
+      int len = arg.length() + 1;
+      argv[i] = reinterpret_cast<char*>(malloc(len * sizeof(char)));
+      snprintf(argv[i], len, "%s", arg.c_str());
+    }
+  }
+  return argv;
+}
+
+void FreeArgs(char** argv, size_t argc) {
+  if (argv) {
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
+      free(argv[i]);
+    }
+    free(argv);
+  }
+}
+
+bool HasUnparsedROSArgs(const rcl_arguments_t& rcl_args) {
+  int unparsed_ros_args_count = rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed_ros(&rcl_args);
+  return unparsed_ros_args_count != 0;
+}
+
 }  // namespace rclnodejs

src/rcl_utilities.h

@@ -53,6 +53,13 @@ Napi::Array ConvertToJSTopicEndpointInfoList(
 
 Napi::Value ConvertToQoS(Napi::Env env, const rmw_qos_profile_t* qos_profile);
 
+// `AbstractArgsFromNapiArray` and `FreeArgs` must be called in pairs.
+char** AbstractArgsFromNapiArray(const Napi::Array& jsArgv);
+// `AbstractArgsFromNapiArray` and `FreeArgs` must be called in pairs.
+void FreeArgs(char** argv, size_t argc);
+
+bool HasUnparsedROSArgs(const rcl_arguments_t& rcl_args);
+
 }  // namespace rclnodejs
 
 #endif  // SRC_RCL_UTILITIES_H_

test/test-node.js

@@ -572,3 +572,85 @@ describe('Test the node with no handles attached when initializing', function ()
     assert.notStrictEqual(node.getRMWImplementationIdentifier().length, 0);
   });
 });
+
+describe('Node arguments', function () {
+  this.timeout(60 * 1000);
+
+  it('Test node arguments', async function () {
+    await rclnodejs.init();
+    var node = rclnodejs.createNode(
+      'publisher',
+      '/topic_getter',
+      Context.defaultContext(),
+      NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+      ['--ros-args', '-r', '__ns:=/foo/bar']
+    );
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(node.namespace(), '/foo/bar');
+    node.destroy();
+    rclnodejs.shutdown();
+  });
+
+  it('Test node global arguments', async function () {
+    await rclnodejs.init(Context.defaultContext(), [
+      'process_name',
+      '--ros-args',
+      '-r',
+      '__node:=global_node_name',
+    ]);
+    const node1 = rclnodejs.createNode(
+      'publisher',
+      '/topic_getter',
+      Context.defaultContext(),
+      NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+      ['--ros-args', '-r', '__ns:=/foo/bar']
+    );
+
+    const node2 = rclnodejs.createNode(
+      'my_node',
+      '/topic_getter',
+      Context.defaultContext(),
+      NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+      [],
+      false
+    );
+
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(node1.name(), 'global_node_name');
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(node2.name(), 'my_node');
+    node1.destroy();
+    node2.destroy();
+    rclnodejs.shutdown();
+  });
+
+  it('Test node invalid arguments', async function () {
+    await rclnodejs.init();
+    assert.throws(
+      () => {
+        rclnodejs.createNode(
+          'invalid_node1',
+          '/topic1',
+          Context.defaultContext(),
+          NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+          ['--ros-args', '-r', 'not-a-remap']
+        );
+      },
+      Error,
+      /failed to parse arguments/
+    );
+
+    assert.throws(
+      () => {
+        rclnodejs.createNode(
+          'invalid_node2',
+          '/topic2',
+          Context.defaultContext(),
+          NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+          ['--ros-args', '--my-custom-flag']
+        );
+      },
+      Error,
+      /failed to parse arguments/
+    );
+
+    rclnodejs.shutdown();
+  });
+});

test/types/index.test-d.ts

@@ -82,6 +82,15 @@ expectType<rclnodejs.Options<string | rclnodejs.QoS>>(
 );
 expectType<string>(node.getFullyQualifiedName());
 expectType<string>(node.getRMWImplementationIdentifier());
+const nodeWithArgs = rclnodejs.createNode(
+  NODE_NAME,
+  'topic',
+  rclnodejs.Context.defaultContext(),
+  rclnodejs.NodeOptions.defaultOptions,
+  ['--ros-args', '-r', '__ns:=/foo/bar'],
+  false
+);
+expectType<rclnodejs.Node>(nodeWithArgs);
 
 // ---- LifecycleNode ----
 const lifecycleNode = rclnodejs.createLifecycleNode(LIFECYCLE_NODE_NAME);

types/index.d.ts

@@ -11,14 +11,19 @@ declare module 'rclnodejs' {
    * @param namespace - The namespace used in ROS, default is an empty string.
    * @param context - The context, default is Context.defaultContext().
    * @param options - The node options, default is NodeOptions.defaultOptions.
+   * @param args - The arguments to be passed to the node, default is an empty array.
+   * @param useGlobalArguments - If true, the node will use global arguments, default is true.
+   *                            If false, the node will not use global arguments.
    * @returns The new Node instance.
    * @deprecated since 0.18.0, Use new Node constructor.
    */
   function createNode(
     nodeName: string,
     namespace?: string,
     context?: Context,
-    options?: NodeOptions
+    options?: NodeOptions,
+    args?: string[],
+    useGlobalArguments?: boolean
   ): Node;
 
   /**