What Is This?

This demo provides examples of three different ways to use the rclcpp_components API to compose multiple nodes in a single process.

This ROS 2 package consists of the following demo applications:

1. dlopen_composition
2. linktime_composition
3. manual_composition

Build

Run the commands below to build the ROS 2 package:

colcon build --packages-up-to composition

Run

Manual Composition

Running manual_composition compiles an executable that runs the following 4 components:

• Talker: A ROS 2 component that publishes a string
• Listener: A ROS 2 component that prints the received string from Talker
• Server: A ROS 2 component that adds two integers and outputs its result to Client
• Client: A ROS 2 component that sends two integers to Server and prints the received result from Server

ros2 run composition manual_composition

DlOpen Composition

This runs dlopen_composition which is an alternative to run-time composition by creating a generic container process and explicitly passing the libraries to load without using ROS interfaces.

First run the command to find the libraries prefix path.

ros2 pkg prefix composition

Then you can find the prefix path of the required shared libraries to load.

The process will open each library and create one instance of each “rclcpp::Node” class in the library.

ros2 run composition dlopen_composition <path_to_talker_component_shared_library> <path_to_listener_component_shared_library>

Linux

The libraries will be present in <prefix_path>/lib/ as lib*.so files.

Run the following command to load the libraries.

ros2 run composition dlopen_composition `ros2 pkg prefix composition`/lib/libtalker_component.so `ros2 pkg prefix composition`/lib/liblistener_component.so

Windows

On Windows, we will need the *.dll files. Since command substitution will not work on Windows, you have to give the absolute path of the libraries.

The libraries will be in <path_to_your_ros2_installation>\bin\, so we have to run.

ros2 run composition dlopen_composition <prefix_path>\bin\talker_component.dll <prefix_path>\bin\listener_component.dll

To get the prefix_path run

ros2 pkg prefix composition

For example if our prefix_path comes out to be C:\pixi_ws\ros2-windows\ we will run

ros2 run composition dlopen_composition C:\pixi_ws\ros2-windows\bin\talker_component.dll C:\pixi_ws\ros2-windows\bin\listener_component.dll

Linktime Composition

Similar to previous, this runs linktime_composition which links all classes from libraries that are registered under the library_path with the linker.

ros2 run composition linktime_composition

Composition Using Launch Actions

Rather than using the command line tool to run each composition, we can automate this action with ros2 launch functionality:

ros2 launch composition composition_demo_launch.py

Verify

Manual Composition

When executed correctly, strings should be printed to terminal similar to what is shown below:

[INFO] [1674528188.026468320] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 1'
[INFO] [1674528188.027043857] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 1]
[INFO] [1674528189.026414368] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 2'
[INFO] [1674528189.026742015] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 2]
[INFO] [1674528189.032512995] [Server]: Incoming request: [a: 2, b: 3]
[INFO] [1674528189.032815843] [Client]: Got result: [5]
[INFO] [1674528190.026455807] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 3'
[INFO] [1674528190.026795770] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 3]
[INFO] [1674528191.026457639] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 4'
[INFO] [1674528191.026801926] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 4]
[INFO] [1674528191.032377264] [Server]: Incoming request: [a: 2, b: 3]
[INFO] [1674528191.032604427] [Client]: Got result: [5]
[INFO] [1674528192.026428269] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 5'
[INFO] [1674528192.026537974] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 5]
[INFO] [1674528193.026437034] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 6'
[INFO] [1674528193.026767708] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 6]
[INFO] [1674528193.032377748] [Server]: Incoming request: [a: 2, b: 3]
[INFO] [1674528193.032603036] [Client]: Got result: [5]
#...

:warning:

Note that manually-composed components will not be reflected in the ros2 component list command line tool output.

DlOpen Composition

When executed correctly, strings should be printed to terminal similar to what is shown below:

INFO] [1674529118.496557668] [dlopen_composition]: Load library /opt/ros/rolling/lib/libtalker_component.so
[INFO] [1674529118.496774575] [dlopen_composition]: Instantiate class rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Talker>
[INFO] [1674529118.503388909] [dlopen_composition]: Load library /opt/ros/rolling/lib/liblistener_component.so
[INFO] [1674529118.503739855] [dlopen_composition]: Instantiate class rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Listener>
[INFO] [1674529119.503505873] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 1'
[INFO] [1674529119.503770137] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 1]
[INFO] [1674529120.503572362] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 2'
[INFO] [1674529120.503888374] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 2]
[INFO] [1674529121.503503459] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 3'
[INFO] [1674529121.503628269] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 3]
[INFO] [1674529122.503557862] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 4'
[INFO] [1674529122.503894772] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 4]
[INFO] [1674529123.503574524] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 5'
[INFO] [1674529123.503884894] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 5]
#...

:warning:

Note that dlopen-composed components will not be reflected in the ros2 component list command line tool output.

Linktime Composition

When executed correctly, strings should be printed to terminal similar to what is shown below:

[INFO] [1674528568.091949637] [linktime_composition]: Load library
[INFO] [1674528568.091995119] [linktime_composition]: Instantiate class rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Client>
[INFO] [1674528568.098833910] [linktime_composition]: Instantiate class rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Listener>
[INFO] [1674528568.100669644] [linktime_composition]: Instantiate class rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Server>
[INFO] [1674528568.102665704] [linktime_composition]: Instantiate class rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Talker>
[INFO] [1674528569.104717098] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 1'
[INFO] [1674528569.105206993] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 1]
[INFO] [1674528570.099206827] [Server]: Incoming request: [a: 2, b: 3]
[INFO] [1674528570.099376432] [Client]: Got result: [5]
[INFO] [1674528570.104656875] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 2'
[INFO] [1674528570.105069514] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 2]
[INFO] [1674528571.104710545] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 3'
[INFO] [1674528571.105150094] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 3]
[INFO] [1674528572.099350955] [Server]: Incoming request: [a: 2, b: 3]
[INFO] [1674528572.099628903] [Client]: Got result: [5]
[INFO] [1674528572.104631322] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 4'
[INFO] [1674528572.104911174] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 4]
[INFO] [1674528573.104596009] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 5'
[INFO] [1674528573.104751214] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 5]
#...

:warning:

Note that linktime-composed components will not be reflected in the ros2 component list command line tool output.

Composition Using Launch Actions

When executed correctly, strings should be printed to terminal similar to what is shown below:

[INFO] [launch]: All log files can be found below /root/.ros/log/2024-05-04-23-37-06-363020-d8ff93e471d7-9387
[INFO] [launch]: Default logging verbosity is set to INFO
[INFO] [component_container-1]: process started with pid [9402]
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865826.695090046] [my_container]: Load Library: /opt/ros/rolling/lib/libtalker_component.so
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865826.696388047] [my_container]: Found class: rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Talker>
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865826.696435882] [my_container]: Instantiate class: rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Talker>
[INFO] [launch_ros.actions.load_composable_nodes]: Loaded node '/talker' in container '/my_container'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865826.702958710] [my_container]: Load Library: /opt/ros/rolling/lib/liblistener_component.so
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865826.703401061] [my_container]: Found class: rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Listener>
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865826.703414344] [my_container]: Instantiate class: rclcpp_components::NodeFactoryTemplate<composition::Listener>
[INFO] [launch_ros.actions.load_composable_nodes]: Loaded node '/listener' in container '/my_container'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865827.701941449] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 1'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865827.702047599] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 1]
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865828.701984118] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 2'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865828.702154523] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 2]
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865829.702004471] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 3'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865829.702176059] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 3]
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865830.701876733] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 4'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865830.701965546] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 4]
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865831.701885355] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 5'
[component_container-1] [INFO] [1714865831.701984823] [listener]: I heard: [Hello World: 5]

FAQ

Q: Why use node composition?

A: Node composition avoids the overhead of marshalling and unmarshaling messages by allowing nodes to be instantiated within the same process.

References

1. Composing multiple nodes in a single process
2. About Composition

Changelog for package composition

0.37.0 (2025-04-25)

0.36.0 (2025-04-25)

• Uniform CMAKE min VERSION (#714)
• Set envars to run tests with rmw_zenoh_cpp with multicast discovery (#711)
• Use target_link_libraries instead of ament_target_dependencies (#707)
• Contributors: Alejandro Hernández Cordero, Shane Loretz, mosfet80

0.35.1 (2024-11-20)

0.35.0 (2024-10-03)

• Fix typo in composition comment (#703)
• Contributors: Christophe Bedard

0.34.2 (2024-07-29)

0.34.1 (2024-06-17)

• Change references from "jazzy" to "rolling" on the rolling branch. (#687)
• [composition] add launch action console output in the verify section (#677)
• Contributors: Chris Lalancette, Mikael Arguedas

0.34.0 (2024-04-26)

0.33.2 (2024-03-28)

• Update maintainer list in package.xml files (#665)
• Contributors: Michael Jeronimo

0.33.1 (2024-02-07)

0.33.0 (2024-01-24)

• Migrate std::bind calls to lambda expressions (#659)
• Contributors: Felipe Gomes de Melo

0.32.1 (2023-12-26)

0.32.0 (2023-11-06)

0.31.1 (2023-09-07)

0.31.0 (2023-08-21)

0.30.1 (2023-07-11)

0.30.0 (2023-06-12)

0.29.0 (2023-06-07)

0.28.1 (2023-05-11)

0.28.0 (2023-04-27)

0.27.0 (2023-04-13)

• Change all ROS2 -> ROS 2. (#610)
• Contributors: Chris Lalancette

0.26.0 (2023-04-11)

• update launch file name format to match documentation (#588)
• Contributors: Patrick Wspanialy

0.25.0 (2023-03-01)

0.24.1 (2023-02-24)

0.24.0 (2023-02-14)

• Added README.md for composition (#598)
• Update the demos to C++17. (#594)
• [rolling] Update maintainers - 2022-11-07 (#589)
• Contributors: Audrow Nash, Chris Lalancette, Gary Bey

0.23.0 (2022-11-02)

• fix memory leak (#585)
• Contributors: Chen Lihui

0.22.0 (2022-09-13)

0.21.0 (2022-04-29)

0.20.1 (2022-04-08)

0.20.0 (2022-03-01)

0.19.0 (2022-01-14)

0.18.0 (2021-12-17)

• Update maintainers to Audrow Nash and Michael Jeronimo (#543)
• Additional fixes for documentation in demos. (#538)
• Contributors: Audrow Nash, Chris Lalancette

0.17.0 (2021-10-18)

• Fixing deprecated subscriber callback warnings (#532)
• Contributors: Abrar Rahman Protyasha

0.16.0 (2021-08-11)

0.15.0 (2021-05-14)

0.14.2 (2021-04-26)

0.14.1 (2021-04-19)

0.14.0 (2021-04-06)

0.13.0 (2021-03-25)

0.12.1 (2021-03-18)

0.12.0 (2021-01-25)

• Fix leak(#480) (#481)
• Contributors: y-okumura-isp

0.11.0 (2020-12-10)

• Update the package.xml files with the latest Open Robotics maintainers (#466)
• Contributors: Michael Jeronimo

0.10.1 (2020-09-21)

0.10.0 (2020-06-17)

0.9.3 (2020-06-01)

0.9.2 (2020-05-26)

0.9.1 (2020-05-12)

0.9.0 (2020-04-30)

• Replace deprecated launch_ros usage (#437)
• Update launch_ros action usage (#431)
• code style only: wrap after open parenthesis if not in one line (#429)
• Contributors: Dirk Thomas, Jacob Perron

0.8.4 (2019-11-19)

0.8.3 (2019-11-11)

0.8.2 (2019-11-08)

0.8.1 (2019-10-23)

• Replace ready_fn with ReadyToTest action (#404)
• Contributors: Peter Baughman

0.8.0 (2019-09-26)

• Add an demo component not inherited from rclcpp::Node (#393)
• Contributors: Michael Carroll

0.7.6 (2019-05-30)

0.7.5 (2019-05-29)

0.7.4 (2019-05-20)

0.7.3 (2019-05-10)

0.7.2 (2019-05-08)

• changes to avoid deprecated API's (#332)
• Corrected publish calls with shared_ptr signature (#327)
• Migrate launch tests to new launch_testing features & API (#318)
• Contributors: Michel Hidalgo, William Woodall, ivanpauno

0.7.1 (2019-04-26)

• Renamed launch file, updated to avoid redundant default actions, and set output to screen. (#326)
• Updated constructor to const ref to NodeOptions. (#323)
• Added basic composition launch demo. (#324)
• Contributors: Michael Carroll, William Woodall

0.7.0 (2019-04-14)

• Updated for new rclcpp_components package. (#319)
• Added launch along with launch_testing as test dependencies. (#313)
• Dropped legacy launch API usage. (#311)
• Contributors: Michael Carroll, Michel Hidalgo

0.6.2 (2019-01-15)

0.6.1 (2018-12-13)

0.6.0 (2018-12-07)

• Added semicolons to all RCLCPP and RCUTILS macros. (#278)
• Contributors: Chris Lalancette

0.5.1 (2018-06-28)

0.5.0 (2018-06-27)

• Updated launch files to account for the "old launch" getting renamespaced as launch -> launch.legacy. (#239)
• Updated to avoid newly deprecated class loader headers. (#229)
• Added a periodic log message while waiting for a service response.
• Contributors: Dirk Thomas, Michael Carroll, Mikael Arguedas, William Woodall