rcl_cpp::Node runtime error (InvalidNodeNameError) after compiling nugets successfully

[iqedgarmg]

Hi everyone!, thanks a lot for this amazing project!

I am experiment some issues while tried to compile the project on a Windows 10 amd64 machine for UWP, particularly by running the script inittools.cmd at the command:

call colcon build --event-handlers console_cohesion+ --merge-install --build-base .\x64_build --install-base .\x64 --cmake-args -DCSHARP_PLATFORM=x64 -DDOTNET_CORE_ARCH=x64 -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=WindowsStore -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0 --no-warn-unused-cli -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -Wno-dev

The following error appears:

 C:\ws_new\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\src\ament\ament_index\ament_index_cpp\src\get_resources.cpp(74,67): error C2664: 'HANDLE FindFirstFileW(LPCWSTR,LPWIN32_FIND_DATAW)': cannot convert argument 1 from 'const _Elem *' to 'LPCWSTR' [C:\ws_new\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\x64_build\ament_index_cpp\ament_index_cpp.vcxproj]
          with
          [
              _Elem=char
          ]

C:\ws\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\src\ament\ament_index\ament_index_cpp\src\get_resources.cpp(89,10): message : Reason: cannot convert from 'WCHAR [260]' to 'const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>' [C:\ws\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\x64_build\ament_index_cpp\ament_index_cpp.vcxproj]
C:\ws\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\src\ament\ament_index\ament_index_cpp\src\get_resources.cpp(89,10): message : No constructor could take the source type, or constructor overload resolution was ambiguous [C:\ws\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\x64_build\ament_index_cpp\ament_index_cpp.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.29.30133\include\xtree(1370,25): message : see declaration of 'std::_Tree<std::_Tmap_traits<_Kty,_Ty,_Pr,_Alloc,false>>::find' [C:\ws\ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\x64_build\ament_index_cpp\ament_index_cpp.vcxproj]

After looking solutions for the specific problem, I was able to fix it by modifying the file "ros_msft_mrtk_native\tools\src\ament\ament_index\ament_index_cpp\src\get_resources.cpp" to adding the following conversion functions:

std::wstring s2ws(const std::string& str)
{
    using convert_typeX = std::codecvt_utf8<wchar_t>;
    std::wstring_convert<convert_typeX, wchar_t> converterX;

    return converterX.from_bytes(str);
}

std::string ws2s(const std::wstring& wstr)
{
    using convert_typeX = std::codecvt_utf8<wchar_t>;
    std::wstring_convert<convert_typeX, wchar_t> converterX;

    return converterX.to_bytes(wstr);
}

and this modifications to convert from wstring to string:

#else

    std::string pattern = path + "/*";

    //---> Patch added
    std::wstring wpattern = s2ws(pattern);
    
    WIN32_FIND_DATA find_data;
    HANDLE find_handle = FindFirstFile(wpattern.c_str(), &find_data);
    if (find_handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
      continue;
    }
    do {
      // ignore directories
      if ((find_data.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)) {
        continue;
      }

      // ignore files starting with a dot
      if (find_data.cFileName[0] == '.') {
        continue;
      }

      //---> Patch added
      if (resources.find(ws2s(find_data.cFileName)) == resources.end())
      {
          resources[ws2s(find_data.cFileName)] = base_path;
      }
       
    } while (FindNextFile(find_handle, &find_data));
    FindClose(find_handle);
#endif
  }
  return resources;
}

Then I was able to compile the nuget package for the /x64 architecture with no additional issues (just a warnings related to the googletest library), generating the file "Microsoft.ROS.MRTK.Foxy.x64.0.1.0.nupkg".

By looking at the uwp_cpp sample, I installed the generated nuget package and compiling for the /x64 architecture (using Visual Studio 2019) with no issues. Nevertheless, I get the following execution error when I try to run the uwp_cpp sample:

Exception thrown at 0x00007FFE7BC34F69 in uwp_cpp.exe: Microsoft C++ exception: rclcpp::exceptions::InvalidNodeNameError at memory location 0x0000008AB25FA820.

which is produced when an instance of the subscriber is created.

auto minSubscriber = std::make_shared<MinimalSubscriber>();

the error, is also produced if I try to create a simple ros2 node instance:

rclcpp::Node* node = new rclcpp::Node("node");

I also tried to generate the nuget using different architectures (/x86) and different Windows 10 machines (for debug and release modes), but the same error still persists.

Is there any clue of how to solve this problem?. I really appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance for your response!