[Bug]: Missing package.xml installation causes ros2 doctor --report to fail

[mini-1235]

Before proceeding, is there an existing issue or discussion for this?

• I have done a search for similar issues and discussions.

OS and version

24.04

Open-RMF installation type

Binaries

Other Open-RMF installation methods

No response

Open-RMF version or commit hash

latest commit

ROS distribution

Rolling

ROS installation type

Binaries

Other ROS installation methods

No response

Package or library, if applicable

No response

Description of the bug

Hi, I am running ros2 doctor --report and encountered the following warning:

opt/ros/rolling/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ros2doctor/api/__init__.py: 262: UserWarning: Fail to call PackageReport class functions.

After some investigation, I found that the issue appears to be related to several RMF-related packages that do not properly install their package.xml files. The affected packages include (but may not be limited to):

• https://github.com/open-rmf/rmf_task
• https://github.com/open-rmf/rmf_utils
• https://github.com/open-rmf/rmf_battery
• https://github.com/open-rmf/rmf_traffic

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Install any of the packages listed above
2. Run ros2 doctor --report

Expected behavior

Able to list versions

Actual behavior

opt/ros/rolling/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ros2doctor/api/init.py: 262: UserWarning: Fail to call PackageReport class functions.

Fails to report version information for any of the packages

Additional information or screenshots

As described in the tutorial https://docs.ros.org/en/rolling/How-To-Guides/Ament-CMake-Documentation.html

The project setup is done by ament_package() and this call must occur exactly once per package. ament_package() installs the package.xml, registers the package with the ament index, and installs configuration (and possibly target) files for CMake so that it can be found by other packages using find_package. Since ament_package() gathers a lot of information from the CMakeLists.txt it should be the last call in your CMakeLists.txt.

Adding ament_package() at the end of the CMakeLists.txt resolves the issue. However, I noticed that the package currently exports the ament index manually, which can alternatively be handled by ament_package() or other ament_* commands. Is there a specific reason for avoiding the ament_* syntax in these repos?

rmf_traffic/rmf_traffic/CMakeLists.txt

Lines 163 to 168 in 5c5a13c

	# Export ament index path
	file(WRITE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/share/ament_index/resource_index/packages/${PROJECT_NAME} "")
	install(FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/share/ament_index/resource_index/packages/${PROJECT_NAME} DESTINATION share/ament_index/resource_index/packages)
	file(WRITE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/share/${PROJECT_NAME}/hook/ament_prefix_path.dsv "prepend-non-duplicate;AMENT_PREFIX_PATH;")
	install(FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/share/${PROJECT_NAME}/hook/ament_prefix_path.dsv DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME}/hook)

[mxgrey]

The rmf_traffic library was originally made as a pure cmake package, hence there's no package.xml and no dependency on ament. The intention was that this library should work for anyone without needing a full ROS 2 installation.

Realistically I doubt this library is being used outside of any ROS 2 build systems. If adding a package.xml and a dependency on ament will help your tooling, then we'd be open to a PR to add those things.

[mini-1235]

Thanks for the clarification!
I am currently not using any rmf* related packages, I just noticed this issue when running ros2 doctor. I’ve also opened ros2/ros2cli#1108 to help unblock other packages from reporting their version.

As for this issue, I’m okay with either approach - feel free to rewrite the CMakeLists or close if you think that's the best. Honestly, I don't have time to work on this right now :)

[AKG451]

I've submitted a PR (#130 ) to fix this for rmf_traffic using the lightweight CMake installation method discussed above. Verified locally that it resolves the metadata reporting issue.