ros service callback blocks the other node callbacks?

asked 2011-06-27 22:38:26 -0500

quimnuss
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Hi all! Does a slow service callback prevent the other callbacks from running? Is there a multi-thread solution behind the scenes, or a FIFO queue?

In the situation that there's a service with a publisher/subscriber structure for what should be a service, is there a neat wait to sincronize the request with the published answer? It looks like waiting on a mutex or flag prevents the subscription callback from running.

Cheers!

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answered 2011-06-27 23:17:29 -0500

Lorenz

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It depends on the number of spin threads you have running. If you have only one, the service callback will block subscriptions. If you have more than one running, subscriptions should still work. The easiest way to run multiple spin threads is the AsyncSpinner class.

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Understood, so there's only one thread if there's a sinle ros::spin. I'll take a look at the AsyncSpinner class, although i'll probably change the node to provide a service functionality rather than a publisher/subscriber structure (I'll set both, actually). Thanks!

quimnuss ( 2011-06-28 03:57:58 -0500 )edit

Sorry I didn't get. If I have a single node with a global variable, single spin and two callbacks, if I try to modify the variable on one callback I'm ensured that there will be no race conditions while I try to modify the same variable on the other callback?

mark_vision ( 2015-05-05 09:58:30 -0500 )edit

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answered 2011-06-28 02:59:15 -0500

dornhege

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Are you designing the service yourself? If is something that takes quite long (like executing a command on a robot), it might be worth making this an action using actionlib as that is designed exactly for that.

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Yeah, I though about that too. But seems to me it doesn't take long enough to be though as an action. Like a minute of computing at most.

quimnuss ( 2011-06-28 03:55:16 -0500 )edit

Generally, you can (and maybe should :)) use an action if you have code that runs for quite some time and where it could make sense to preempt it at some point during execution. Preemption is not possible with services.

Lorenz ( 2011-06-28 05:04:30 -0500 )edit

A minute is a very long time, you should make it an action. It will report when finished. You can wait until it's done or cancel it if something else comes up.

joq ( 2011-06-28 08:00:56 -0500 )edit

Interesting, I misunderstood actions for more "clean the dishes" kind long-term goal. I'll switch everything to actions.

quimnuss ( 2011-07-12 21:08:37 -0500 )edit

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ros service callback blocks the other node callbacks?

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ros service callback blocks the other node callbacks?