YARP 2.3.68 Released

[drdanz]

YARP 2.3.68 was released today and is now available for download at: https://github.com/robotology/yarp/releases/. This release is a feature release and introduces several new features and important changes since YARP 2.3.66.

A (partial) list of bug fixed and issues resolved in this release can be found
here.

Important Changes

Dependencies

• Readline library is no longer used and was replaced with the NetBSD Editline
  library (libedit-dev on debian/ubuntu).
• YCM 0.2.2 is now an optional dependency.

YARP_OS

• The yarp::os::Contact class was widely refactored:
  • The add*() methods are now deprecated. The new set*() methods should be used
    instead.
  • The by*(), invalid() and empty() factory methods are now deprecated. The
    class constructors should be used instead (a few new constructors were added
    to allow this).
  • The byConfig() method is now deprecated. fromConfig() should be used
    instead.
  • The Contact::toURI() method now accepts an includeCarrier parameter (true by
    default) to simplify the generation of the URI without the carrier.
    Moreover the string returned always end with a / character.
  • ROS integration was heavily improved and it is now possible to register
    one Publisher and one Subscriber on the same Node using the same
    topic, and to use tools like roswtf and rqt.
    If you are using YARP with ROS, upgrading is strongly recommended.
  • Added ConnectionReader::setParentConnectionReader method. This method
    should be used by Carriers that reimplement modifyIncomingData and that
    return a ConnectionReader that is not the same as the one in input.
• PortCore now uses the "new" version of the protocol for signalling to
  suppress the reply. This was expected since YARP 2.1.2, but it was never
  applied. Both versions of the protocol are accepted in input, unless
  YARP_NO_DEPRECATED is enabled, in this case YARP it is not compatible with
  previous releases since only the new version is recognized.
• It is now possible to get and set parameters to portmonitors directly attached
  to a port.

YARP_sig

• Important: we removed methods for interoperability with the GNU Scientific
  Library (GSL).
  The reason for this was to avoid licensing problems generated by the inclusion
  of a structure defined by GSL. Methods for interoperability have been
  implemented in a new library libYARP_gsl (see below). In details:
  • We removed yarp::sig::Matrix::getGslMatrix()
  • We removed yarp::sig::Vector::getGslVector()

YARP_dev

• New depth camera stack, device driver interface and wrapper. The old
  interfaces and devices will be deprecated in the next release, when all the
  features will be ported to the new stack.

YARP_gsl

• This library contains methods for interoperability with the GNU Scientific
  Library. Notice that this library is released as GPL (and not LGPL) because it
  uses a structure defined by GSL.
  • Checkout yarp::gsl::GslMatrix and yarp::gsl::GslVector

YARP_math

• libYARP_math can be compiled with GSL or Eigen (via CMake flag
  CREATE_LIB_MATH_USING_GSL). Important: the use of GSL and this flag will be
  removed in the next release of YARP.
  • When compiled with GSL libYARP_math uses libYARP_gsl internally. A small
    performance hit could affect methods that use GSL.
  • When compiled without GSL libYARP_math uses Eigen.
• The option to link Atlas library has been broken for a while, and therefore it
  was removed. On debian/ubuntu it is still possible to use the atlas library by
  installing the libatlas-base-dev package, and use update-alternatives to
  configure the alternatives for libblas.so, libblas.so.3, liblapack.so,
  and liblapack.so.3

CMake Modules

• All deprecated CMake modules have been removed.
• All GTK2 CMake modules have been removed and are no longer installed in
  ${YARP_MODULE_PATH}. They can still be found in
  YCM.
• The FindReadline module has been removed.
• The FindAtlas module has been removed.
• The YarpPlugin module and the relative templates received several
  improvements and fixes:
  • yarp_prepare_plugin no longer include any directory or namespace.
    As a consecuence, it might be necessary to fix the TYPE for plugins adding
    the full namespace to the class name, and to add the current directory to
    CMake include directories.
  • yarp_prepare_carrier and yarp_prepare_device are deprecated in favour
    of yarp_prepare_plugin.
  • The new TEMPLATE and TEMPLATE_DIR accepted by yarp_prepare_plugin
    can be used to specify a file name and a directory for the template that
    will be configured and added to the plugin. If a template is not specified,
    a file yarp_plugin_<CATEGORY>.cpp.in is searched in current directory, in
    CMake module path, and in YARP cmake modules directory. If still it cannot
    be found, but the PARENT_TYPE argument, containing the name of the parent
    class for the plugin, was specified, then a default template is generated in
    current binary directory. This should simplify the creation of new types of
    plugins. Please note that static plugins will not work with the default
    template.
  • The CODE and WRAPPER arguments for the yarp_prepare_plugin command are
    deprecated, the new EXTRA_CONFIG argument should be used instead.
    Each variable in the form KEY=VALUE passed to the EXTRA_CONFIG argument
    is changed to YARPPLUG_<KEY> and used when the template is configured.
    For example EXTRA_CONFIG WRAPPER=foo generates the YARPPLUG_WRAPPER
    variable that is then replaced in the yarp_plugin_device.cpp.in.
  • The DEFAULT argument for the yarp_prepare_plugin can be used to specify
    whether the plugin should be enabled by default or not (default = OFF).
  • The ADVANCED option for the yarp_prepare_plugin can be used to specify
    that the generated CMake variable should be marked as advanced
    (default = OFF).
  • The INTERNAL option for the yarp_prepare_plugin can be used to specify
    that the generated CMake variable should be marked as internal (and
    therefore not displayed in CMake gui). This also implies DEFAULT=ON unless
    explicitly specified.
  • The DOC argument for the yarp_prepare_plugin can be used to specify a
    documentation line for the generated CMake variable.
  • The OPTION argument for the yarp_prepare_plugin can be used to rename
    the generated CMake option.
  • The DEPENDS argument for the yarp_prepare_plugin can be used to specify
    a list of dependencies that should be satisfied in order to enable the
    plugin. If these dependencies are not available, the plugin is disabled, and
    the generated CMake option is not shown on CMake.
• All CMake modules from YCM, CMake, and private are now deprecated, and are
  installed only if YARP_NO_DEPRECATED is OFF. Projects that require these
  files should depend on YCM instead.

Tools

• yarpserver2 and yarpserver3 have been deprecated for a long time, and
  replaced by yarpserver, therefore they have been removed. Please update your
  scripts

GUIs

• All GTK2 GUIs have a Qt5 replacement and have been deprecated since YARP
  2.3.65, therefore they have been removed.
• yarpmanager++ and yarpbuilder no longer exists, yarpmanager now includes
  all the builder functionality.

Devices

• The microphone device is deprecated in favour of portaudio (#891).
• The new depthCamera camera driver implements the IRGBD and
  FrameGrabberControl2 interfaces, and works with the devices supported by
  openni2.

Bug Fixes

YARP_OS

• Fixed some cases of connections leaving a streaming connection pending.
• Support dynamic plugins when YARP is built without ACE.
• Fixed several possible race conditions in yarp::os::Thread.
• getBusInfo ROS command was implemented.
• getMasterUri ROS command was implemented.
• getPid ROS command was fixed and now returns just one integer instead of a
  vector.
• The right caller_id is returned by PortCore for publisherUpdate and
  requestTopic ROS commands.
• The right caller_id is returned by the tcpros carrier.
• yarp::os::Node now handles correctly multiple publishers and subscribers on
  the same topic. The limit on YARP is that only one publisher and one
  subscriber can be registered on the same node using the same topic.
• The Carriers class was moved outside of the impl namespace (How to connect PC camera to iCub simulator? #402).
• Fixed crash on prop get command from admin rpc port (#969).

Carriers

• Fixed portmonitor and bayer carriers not handling envelope correctly when
  attached on the receiving side (#729, #782, #909).

Devices

• RemoteControlBoard
  • Fixed race condition.
• ControlBoardWrapper
  • Fixed bug in setRemoteVariable`
  • Fixed value not initialized in CheckMotionDone
• fakeMotionControl
  • controlboardwrapper2 is now used as default wrapper instead of
    controlboard and is no longer erroneously reported as deprecated.

GUIs

• yarpmanager
  • Fixed yarpmanager cannot display and disconnect mjpeg connections
    (#595).
• yarplogger
  • Fixed segfault when the logger receives a malformed log message.

New Features

YARP_OS

• Improved PortCore list [in|out] commands
  They also return now:
  • (connectionless 1) when the connection is connectionless (i.e. udp).
  • (push 0) when the connection is not push (i.e. mjpeg).
• Improved Portcore [prop] [get] $portname command.
  It also returns now some more information about the port in this form:
  (port ((is_input [0|1]) (is_output [0|1]) (is_rpc [0|1]) (type "[type]")))
• Improved compiler detection and added <yarp/conf/compiler.h> header
  containing macros to check if a specific feature is available.
• Added method yarp::os::Thread::yield() that reschedules the execution of
  current thread, allowing other threads to run.
• Added method yarp::os::Contactable::resetReporter() to remove the
  PortReport set by setReporter().

YARP_math

• Added the yarp::math::FrameTransform class.

YARP_dev

• Added the yarp::dev::IDepthSensor and yarp::dev::IRGBDSensor interfaces.
• Added the `yarp::dev::IFrameTransform.h interface.
• Added the transformServer and transformClient devices.

Carriers

• Added depthimage portmonitor plugin.

Devices

• The ControlBoardRemapper and RemoteControlBoardRemapper devices were
  introduced that is a state-less and thread-less YARP device that takes axes
  belonging to several controlboards and expose them as a unique controlboard
  device.
• The RGBDSensorClient and RGBDSensorWrapper devices were added.
• Rangefinder2DWrapper: use timetamp from device driver.
• The fakeAnalogSensor has been introduced to easily test and as a reference
  for new analogSensor devices. It has only one channel sending timestamp as
  data.

GUIs

• yarpmanager
  • Use service tag from module description to add as input/output
    service port.
  • It's now possible to set environment variables within application xml file.
• yarpmotorgui
  • Command "Save all joints" from main menu now open a single dialog
    box (#912) and propagates file name to all parts.

Contributors

This is a list of people that contributed to this release (generated from the
git history using git shortlog -ens --no-merges v2.3.68..v2.3.68):

   430  Daniele E. Domenichelli <daniele.domenichelli@iit.it>
    49  Andrea Ruzzenenti <andrea.ruzzenenti@iit.it>
    47  Marco Randazzo <marco.randazzo@iit.it>
    44  Alberto Cardellino <Alberto.Cardellino@iit.it>
    41  Silvio Traversaro <silvio.traversaro@iit.it>
    34  Tobias Fischer <t.fischer@imperial.ac.uk>
    16  Francesco Romano <francesco.romano@iit.it>
    13  Claudio Fantacci <claudio.fantacci@iit.it>
    12  Alberto Cardellino <alberto.cardellino@iit.it>
    10  Lorenzo Natale <lorenzo.natale@iit.it>
    10  Matteo Brunettini <matteo.brunettini@iit.it>
     9  Ugo Pattacini <ugo.pattacini@iit.it>
     8  Vadim Tikhanoff <vadim.tikhanoff@iit.it>
     7  Alexandros Paraschos <paraschos@ias.tu-darmstadt.de>
     6  Ali Paikan <ali.paikan@iit.it>
     3  Giovanni Saponaro <gsaponaro@isr.ist.utl.pt>
     1  Claudia Latella <claudia.latella.86@gmail.com>
     1  Gabriele Nava <gabriele.nava@mail.polimi.it>
     1  Plinio Moreno <plinio@isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt>
     1  Valentina Gaggero <valentina.gaggero@iit.it>
     1  YARP Developers <yarp0-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>

[drdanz]

cc @robotology/all-robotology-developers

[traversaro]

@robotology/all-robotology-developers If after upgrading YARP you are not able to compile icub-main, please check robotology/icub-main#389 .

[Tobias-Fischer]

Hi @drdanz @mbrunettini,
Will this release be made available on the repository (http://www.icub.org/ubuntu)?

Thanks, Tobi

[drdanz]

@Tobias-Fischer yes, @mbrunettini is working on it, the packages will be available as soon as possible.