ros2 / ros2/rclcpp

Use string_view for non-owning string references

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backlog
Dominant language
C++
Stars
805
Forks
564
Avg merge
1d 17h
Merged PRs (30d)
27

Description

Feature request

Currently, the API uses const std::string & for non-owning references to strings (e.g., topic names, node names). A more modern solution would be to use string_view. String constants can be declared as string_view in a header without initializing them in every translation unit. They are also constexpr, which can potentially open up some compile-time usage.

Feature description

The blocker for implementing this right now is that the rcl layer expects null-terminated strings. It's not possible to know if the byte following the string_view buffer is a null byte or simply uninitialized memory, so one would have to copy the data to a string anyway.

Right now, I don't see how this is viable without modifying the rcl API to accept string + length parameters. I thought I'd make the issue regardless, as from a pure C++ API standpoint, using string_views would perhaps be better.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by auditing the public C++ API uses of const std::string& for non-owning references and tracing where those values cross into the rcl layer. Determine whether the rcl API can support string-plus-length inputs without breaking callers. Done requires a concrete, agreed scope for string_view adoption or a documented resolution of the null-termination blocker.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
api, backend-api-design
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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