Create packages (ros2 pkg create)

ROS2 packages are the most basic element in the ROS2 infrastructure. You must be able to create them correctly and consistently. Everything else that ROS2 can offer rotates about the effective use of packages.

ROS2 has a tool to help create package templates. We can get all available options by running

ros2 pkg create -h

which outputs a list of handy options to populate the package template with useful files. Namely, the four emphasized ones.

usage: ros2 pkg create [-h] [--package-format {2,3}] [--description DESCRIPTION] [--license LICENSE] [--destination-directory DESTINATION_DIRECTORY] [--build-type {cmake,ament_cmake,ament_python}]
                 [--dependencies DEPENDENCIES [DEPENDENCIES ...]] [--maintainer-email MAINTAINER_EMAIL] [--maintainer-name MAINTAINER_NAME] [--node-name NODE_NAME] [--library-name LIBRARY_NAME]
                 package_name

Create a new ROS 2 package

positional arguments:
  package_name          The package name

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --package-format {2,3}, --package_format {2,3}
                        The package.xml format.
  --description DESCRIPTION
                        The description given in the package.xml
  --license LICENSE     The license attached to this package; this can be an arbitrary string, but a LICENSE file will only be generated if it is one of the supported licenses (pass '?' to get a list)
  --destination-directory DESTINATION_DIRECTORY
                        Directory where to create the package directory
  --build-type {cmake,ament_cmake,ament_python}
                        The build type to process the package with
  --dependencies DEPENDENCIES [DEPENDENCIES ...]
                        list of dependencies
  --maintainer-email MAINTAINER_EMAIL
                        email address of the maintainer of this package
  --maintainer-name MAINTAINER_NAME
                        name of the maintainer of this package
  --node-name NODE_NAME
                        name of the empty executable
  --library-name LIBRARY_NAME
                        name of the empty library

Although it is recommended to use some of the other options as well, such as --license, --maintainer-email, and --maintainer-name, they would make the commands too long for the purposes of this tutorial. Remember to choose the most suitable values for your application.