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Can't find python scripts after sourcing

asked 2014-09-15 14:17:33 -0500

mugenzebra gravatar image

updated 2014-09-15 14:54:13 -0500

package.xml

<package>
 <description> knex_ros </description>
 <name> knex_ros </name>
 <author>jfstepha</author>
 <license>BSD</license>
 <url>http://ros.org/wiki/kinex_ros</url>
 <version> 0.0.0</version>
 <maintainer email="andre@note.note">andre</maintainer>

 <buildtool_depend>catkin</buildtool_depend>
 <build_depend>tf</build_depend>
 <build_depend>rospy</build_depend>
 <build_depend>std_msgs</build_depend>
 <build_depend>robot_state_publisher</build_depend>
 <build_depend>differential_drive</build_depend>
 <run_depend>tf</run_depend>
 <run_depend>rospy</run_depend>
 <run_depend>std_msgs</run_depend>
 <run_depend>robot_state_publisher</run_depend>
 <run_depend>differential_drive</run_depend>
 </package>

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
project(knex_ros)

find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS
  rospy
  std_msgs
  tf
  roscpp
  robot_state_publisher
  differential_drive
)

catkin_package(
#  INCLUDE_DIRS include
#  LIBRARIES motor_control
#  CATKIN_DEPENDS ros_control roscpp rospy std_msgs
#  DEPENDS system_lib
)

include_directories(
  ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS}
)

catkin_install_python(PROGRAMS
    scripts/knex_arduino_connector.py
    scripts/knex_scratch_connector.py
    scripts/range_filter.py
    scripts/range_to_laser.py
  DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION})

After I catkin_make under [ws], I did . [ws]/devel/setup.bash When I run rospack find, I can find knex_ros, but when I rosrun knex_ros whatever.py, I got

~/catkin_ws/src/knex_ros$ rosrun knex_ros knex_arduino_connector.py
[rosrun] Couldn't find executable named knex_arduino_connector.py below /home/andre/catkin_ws/src/knex_ros
[rosrun] Found the following, but they're either not files,
[rosrun] or not executable:
[rosrun]   /home/andre/catkin_ws/src/knex_ros/scripts/knex_arduino_connector.py

I tried tab to show available executable from knex_ros package, it doesn't show anything. Other package under the same workspace work fine.

One weird thing I noticed happening along with not able to find executable is that I have to source devel/setup.bash every time I open a new terminal, and I didn't have to do this before.

update:

I ran catkin_make install and . install/setup.bash, and rosrun can find the executables. Not sure why only running catkin_make, rosrun works for other package containing python scripts, but not for knex_ros

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2 Answers

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6

answered 2014-09-15 22:39:54 -0500

jackcviers gravatar image

updated 2014-09-17 18:37:11 -0500

First of all, you probably want to use the recommended python style for ROS.

Assuming these files are ros nodes:

scripts/knex_arduino_connector.py
scripts/knex_scratch_connector.py
scripts/range_filter.py
scripts/range_to_laser.py

the package directory style I follow for a ros package looks like this:

knex_pkg/
    CMakesLists.txt
    package.xml
    launch/ # roslaunch files go here
    msg/ # msg files go here
    nodes/ # installable python nodes go here
        knex_arduino_connector.py
        knex_scratch_connector.py
        range_filter.py
        range_to_laser.py
    src/ # this is where your python modules exported as libraries or used in your nodes go.
    urdf/ # urdf and xacro files go here -- basically your robot model stuff, if any.
    scripts/ # generally non-exported python scripts -- stuff that might be called to setup your package and code gen stuff
    srv/ # service descriptions go here
    __init__.py # only necessary if you want to use anything from the scripts directory in your package src and node files
    setup.py # more on this later

In your CMakesLists.txt you need to add a catkin_python_setup()(Handling of setup.py) line after your find_package() calls and before your service, message generation, and add messages calls:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
project(knex_ros)

find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS
  rospy
  std_msgs
  tf
  roscpp
  robot_state_publisher
  differential_drive
)
catkin_python_setup()
...

setup.py is the python distutils setup script. It's where you describe the structure of a python package. The python style guide for ros is pretty specific in how python packages should be layed out. Any modules used should go under src. If you are like me, and like a clearly defined source tree structure with directories as package names, your setup.py will look something like this:

## ! DO NOT MANUALLY INVOKE THIS setup.py, USE CATKIN INSTEAD

from distutils.core import setup
from catkin_pkg.python_setup import generate_distutils_setup

# fetch values from package.xml
setup_args = generate_distutils_setup(
    packages=['my_package'],
    package_dir={'': 'src'},
    requires=['std_msgs', 'rospy', 'message_filters', 'gps_common', 'sensor_msgs']
)

setup(**setup_args)

In setup_args you are defining your package by calling generate_distutils_setup.

The packages argument is an array of package names. Use dot-delimited format (my_package.subpackage) if you wish to explicitly name more than one package. I generally just use one package root and let distutils figure it out from there, and I think this is the simplest practice.

The package_dir arg allows you to specify a source directory for a package name. If you have only one package, then you can omit the package name and give a relative path to the directory containing the modules for that package. If you follow the style guide, that directory will be src. If you have multiple packages in different source directories, you can specify them in this dictionary.

The requires arg is an array of python package names that are required by your package(s). In my example setup.py above, I use std_msgs so I've included it in the list. You will probably always have rospy. I don't think this is explicitly required for ros packages, but I think it is good practice to list them here.

The directory structure under ... (more)

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Comments

packages=['my_package], should it be packages=['my_package'] or packages=[my_package]? And in my case, if I understand about what this argument is for, I should change my_package to knex_ros?

mugenzebra gravatar image mugenzebra  ( 2014-09-17 02:07:23 -0500 )edit

packages=packages['my_package']

And yes, you should change it to 'knex_ros'.

jackcviers gravatar image jackcviers  ( 2014-09-17 18:36:46 -0500 )edit
1

Thank you so much for this very detailed guide! I had been trying to make my submodules copy to devel space for a long time

gariepya gravatar image gariepya  ( 2015-02-11 19:59:45 -0500 )edit

2nd this, this saved my bacon after fighting with it! Thanks for the write up!!!!!

mr337 gravatar image mr337  ( 2016-09-19 18:37:49 -0500 )edit
1

+1 forgot to mark the node as executable

buckley.toby gravatar image buckley.toby  ( 2017-11-02 16:15:04 -0500 )edit
6

answered 2015-07-10 13:43:17 -0500

CatherineH gravatar image

Dumb thing to check - are all your python scripts executable?

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Comments

Thanks! bit strange to have to chmod +x your node.py files when coming over from python to c++..

Jacob Lambert gravatar image Jacob Lambert  ( 2018-05-10 02:06:17 -0500 )edit

This was it for me! Stupid mistake

buckley.toby gravatar image buckley.toby  ( 2018-10-30 16:35:28 -0500 )edit

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Asked: 2014-09-15 14:17:33 -0500

Seen: 11,656 times

Last updated: Jul 10 '15