C++ Changes

Previously there was almost no distinction between Aldebaran’s public headers and private headers.

Now this distinction has been made.

We continue to provide our private headers, but please keep in mind that backward-compatibility will not be guaranteed on those headers.

We also went through a lot of cleaning, which explains why some attributes are no longer available, and why you must use an accessor instead, for instance.

After each table, you will find an example that hopefully will help you get rid of your dependencies on deprecated or private headers.

Below are the complete list of C++ changes. If you have code from 1.10 version, please see the section Porting code to 1.12

Deprecated libraries

Name Replacement
ALCORE, LIBCORE
ALTOOLS, TOOLS
ALFILE qi::path, boost::filesystem
ALLOG qi::log
ALTHREAD boost::thread or pthread
NAOQICLIENT alcommon or simulator-sdk

ALPtr

old:

#include <alcore/alptr.h>
AL::Ptr<AL::Proxy> proxy = ...

new:

#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
boost::shared_ptr<AL::ALProxy> proxy = ....

Logs

old:

#include <allog/allog.h>
alinfo("This is an old information");
alsinfo("This is an old information");
alminfo("This is an old information");

new:

#include <qi/log.hpp>
// C style
qiLogInfo("category", "This is an new information\n");

// C++ style
qiLogInfo("category") << "This is an new information" << std::endl;

There is now 7 logs levels that you can change using –log-level (-L) [log_level_number] option in order form 0 to 6:

  • silent: hide logs.
  • fatal: This one is used before exit the program if a fatal error occured,
  • error: classical error,
  • warning: useful to warn user,
  • info: useful to user informations, logs level by default (also show all lower log level).
  • verbose: not mandatory but useful to user informations, not show by default. If you want them you need to use –verbose (-v) option on naoqi command line.
  • debug: useful to developer informations. Show on debug comilaption using –debug (-d) option on naoqi command line. Not compile on release.

For each verbosity there is only one macro to use:

  • qiLogFatal (old: alfatal, alsfatal, almfatal)
  • qiLogError (old: alerror, alserror, almerror)
  • qiLogWarning (old: alwarning, alswarning, almwarning)
  • qiLogInfo (old: alinfo, alsinfo, alminfo)
  • qiLogVerbose (old: nothing)
  • qiLogDebug (old: aldebug, alsdebug, almdebug)

C++ Headers

Deprecated header Replacement
alvisiondefinitions.h alvision/alvisiondefinitions.h
alvideo.h alvision/alvideo.h
alimage.h alvision/alimage.h
alcore/alerror.h alerror/alerror.h
alcore/alnetworkerror.h alerror/alnetworkerror.h
alcore/configcore.h removed
alcore/altypes.h deprecated

Subdirectories

We made sure every header was in it’s own subdirectory, for consistency and to prevent conflicts.

old:

#include <alvisiondefinitions.h>

new:

#include <alvision/alvisiondefinitions.h>

ALError

Also, please note that since alcore is now a private library, a new header-only library has been create to contains AL::ALError and AL::ALNetworkError classes

old:

#include <alcore/alerror.h>

new:

#include <alerror/alerror.h>

Missing headers

Also, we went through a lot of cleaning so including “alproxy.h” includes much less headers than it used to, so you probably will have to add missing includes here and there.

Here are of symbols that are now deprecated but used to be available via alproxy.h or almodule.h inclusion:

Symbol Header Replacement
AL_ASSERT alcore/alerror.h assert
AL_VERIFY alcore/alerror.h assert
  • TIntArrary
  • TFloatArray
  • ...
alcore/altypes
  • std::vector<int>
  • std::vector<float>
AL_CATCH_ERR alcore/alcatcherror.h cath(const AL::ALError &e) {...}

You can either fix compilation of your code by re-adding the deprecated header (if you are in a hurry), but it’s advised to fix the code instead.

Cross-platforms issues

This was not very well handled by our various headers.

We chose to make things simpler by writing a POSIX compatibility layer for Visual Studio, see the qi::os namespace.

  • alcore/alconficore.h used to contain a few #defines like OE_CROSS_BUILD.

OE_CROSS_BUILD is now set by CMake as soon as you are using your cross-toolchain, so you simply do not need to include this file anymore.

Note

OE_CROSS_BUILD is also deprecated, and you should use the I_AM_A_ROBOT define instead

  • alcore/altypes.h contains a few very dangerous defines, mostly to hide differences between the str* C functions on Visual Studio and for other compilers.

You must now handle those differences yourself:

old:

#include <alcore/altypes.h>

snprintf(...)

new:

#ifdef _MSC_VER
   sprintf_s(...)
#else
   snprintf(...)
#endif

You have the same problems for other functions, mosty sleep and gettimeofday.

old:

SleepMs(...)
gettimeofday(...)

new:

#include <qi/os.hpp>

qi::os::msleep(...);
qi::os::gettimeofday(...);

Typedefs and macros

Removed typedef Replacement
TALModuleInfoVector std::vector<ALModuleInfo>
CITALModuleInfoVector std::vector<ALModuleInfo>::iterator
ALModuleCore::ConstPtr boost::shared_ptr<const ALModuleCore>
ALModuleCore::ConstWeakPtr boost::weak_ptr<const ALModuleCore>
ALBroker::Ptr boost::shared_ptr<ALBroker>
ALBroker::WeakPtr boost::weak_ptr<ALBroker>
ALProxy::Ptr boost::shared_ptr<ALProxy>
ALProxy::WeakPtr boost::weak_ptr<ALProxy>
ALModuleCore::Ptr boost::shared_ptr<ALModuleCore>
ALModuleCore::WeakPtr boost::weak_ptr<ALModuleCore>
AL_DEBUG_LINE use qi::log instead

Methods

Removed method Replacement/Reason
ALBehavior::log use qi::log instead
ALModuleCore::setParentBroker private
ALModuleCore::methodMissing0 private, used for Python wrapping
ALModuleCore::methodMissing1 private, used for Python wrapping
ALModuleCore::methodMissing2 private, used for Python wrapping
ALModuleCore::methodMissing3 private, used for Python wrapping
ALModuleCore::methodMissing4 private, used for Python wrapping
ALModuleCore::methodMissing5 private, used for Python wrapping
ALModuleCore::methodMissing6 private, used for Python wrapping
ALProxy::getParentBrokerName AL::ALProxy::remoteBrokerName()
ALProxy::TGenericCall_CallbackOnFinished AL::ALProxy::onFinishedCallback
ALProxy::isScript private
ALProxy::subscribeToTask private
ALProxy::isIPPC private
ALProxy::isForcedLocal private
ALProxy::isNoLoadDepends private
ALProxy::isMainProxy private
ALProxy::CALL_METHODS AL::ALProxy::genericCall()
ALProxy::PCALL_METHODSNoID private
ALProxy::PCALL_METHODS AL::ALProxy::genericPCall()
ALProxy::callLocal(name) boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<modulename>(ALProxy::getModule())->name()
ALProxy::callLocal(name, p1) boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<modulename>(ALProxy::getModule())->name(p1)
ALProxy::callLocal(name, p1, p2) boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<modulename>(ALProxy::getModule())->name(p1, p2)
ALProxy::callLocal(name, p1, p2, p3) boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<modulename>(ALProxy::getModule())->name(p1, p2, p3)
ALBroker::unregisterBroker AL::ALBrokerManager::removeBroker()
ALBroker::registerBroker AL::ALBrokerManager::addBroker()
ALBroker::setCurrentIP private
ALBroker::getChildNumber private
ALBroker::checkHeartBeat private
ALBroker::getConnectionInformation private
ALBroker::TaskID private
ALBroker::getChildBrokers AL::ALBroker::getBrokerList()
ALBroker::moduleID private
ALBroker::updateIPFromOS private
ALBroker::launchNetwork private
ALBroker::ippcGetPort private
ALBroker::getModuleByName(3 params) AL::ALBroker::getModuleByName()
ALBroker::unregisterModuleReference private
ALBroker::removeAllProxies private
ALBroker::removeProxy private
ALBroker::removeProxyFromBroker private
ALBroker::removeParentBrokerProxy private
ALBroker::initProxy private
ALBroker::init private
ALBroker::sendBackIP private
ALBroker::translateModuleInfo private
ALBroker::getBrokerInfo AL::ALBroker::getIP(), AL::ALBroker::getPort()
ALBroker::exploreToGetModuleByName AL::ALBroker::getGlobalModuleList()
ALBroker::runServer private
ALBroker::configureClient private
ALBroker::registerClient private
ALBroker::getMethodList AL::ALModuleCore::getMethodList()
ALBroker::version AL::ALModuleCore::version()
ALBroker::getInfo private
ALBroker::getModuleInfo AL::ALModuleCore::getModuleInfo()
ALBroker::isFullDisplay private
ALBroker::HasParent private
ALBroker::getBrokerSoap private
ALBroker::setIP private
ALBroker::setPort private
ALBroker::getParentBrokerProxy private
ALBroker::getParentBrokerInfo private
ALBroker::getThreadPool private
ALBroker::getCallQueueManager private
ALBroker::getTaskMonitor private
ALBroker::isDebug private
ALBroker::getSpecialisedProxy private
ALBroker::getThreadPool()->enqueue(mytask) boost::thread or pthread
  • ALBroker::getExecutableName
  • ALBroker::setExecutableName
use qi::program(), after calling qi::init() in your main function
  • ALBroker::getForcedPath
  • ALBroker::setForcedPath
  • ALBroker::isValidPath
  • ALBroker::getALPath
  • ALBroker::getLogPath
  • ALBroker::getModuleBinPath
  • ALBroker::getModuleLibPath
  • ALBroker::getBinPath
  • ALBroker::getPreferencesPath
use qi::path instead

Some getters of ALBroker were returning pointers to other classes, but they are now private.

getTaskMonitor was removed, and the ALTaskMonitor class is no longer available.

But there was only one useful method in ALTaskMonitor: isRequireStop.

Wen you call stop on a method with AL::ALProxy::stop(), you must use isRequiredStop inside your implementation for the stop to really work, otherwise it has no effect.

This method has moved to AL::ALModule::isStopRequired().

Old

void MyModule::doSomething()
{
  bool shouldStop = false;
  while (! shouldStop)
  {
    doStep();
    SleepMs(500);
    shouldStop = getParentBroker()->getTaskMonitor()->isRequireStop();
  }

New

void MyModule::doSomething()
{
  while (! isStopRequired())
  {
    doStep();
    qi::os::msleep(500);
  }
}

Removed attributes

Removed attribute Replacement/Reason
ALBroker::fStopServer private
ALBroker::fBrokerManager private
ALBroker::fFileMutex private
ALModuleCore::fName AL::ALModuleCore::getName()
ALModuleCore::fMethodDesc AL::ALModuleCore::getCurrentMethodDescription()
ALImage::fTimeStamp AL::ALImage::getTimeStamp()

Some public members are now protected, so we added accessors for these.

old:

timeStamp = alimage->fTimeStamp;

new:

timeStamp = alimage->getTimeStamp();

Few attributes have been removed in favor of Private pointer implementation, this should help having ABI compatibles modules with the next versions.

fMethodDesc was used for binding overloaded methods.

Deprecated methods

Old method Replacement
ALBroker::getMemoryProxy use ALMemoryProxy constructor instead
ALBroker::getLedsProxy use ALLedsProxy constructor instead
ALBroker::getLoggerProxy use ALLoggerProxy constructor instead
ALBroker::getMotionProxy use ALMotionProxy constructor instead
ALBroker::getPreferencesProxy use ALPreferencesProxy constructor instead
ALBroker::getDcmProxy use DCMProxy constructor instead
  • ALError::getDescription
  • ALError::getFileName
  • ALError::getLine
  • ALError::getMethodName
  • ALError::getModuleName
  • ALError::toString
AL::ALError inherits from std::exception, so simply use e.what()

First version ALError did not inherit from std::exception, leading to a lot of confustion.

This is now fixed, so we got rid of the useless methods.

Note

The line and the filename where the exception occured are no longer displayed in e.what()

old:

try
{
  ...
}
catch(const ALError &e)
{
  std::cerr << "Error occured! "
            << "For module: " << e.getModuleName()
            << " and method : " << e.getMethodName()
            ....
            << std::endl;
}

new:

try
{
  ...
}
catch(const ALError &e)
{
  std::cerr << "Error occured! "
            << e.what()
            << std::endl;
}

Moved methods

Old name New name
AL::_get_type<T> AL::detail::_get_type<T>
AL::_get_type<AL::ALValue> AL::detail::_get_type<AL::ALValue>
AL::_get_type<bool> AL::detail::_get_type<bool>
AL::_get_type<const T> AL::detail::_get_type<const T>
AL::_get_type<float> AL::detail::_get_type<float>
AL::_get_type<int> AL::detail::_get_type<int>
AL::_get_type<std::string> AL::detail::_get_type<std::string>
AL::_get_type<std::vector< float>> AL::detail::_get_type<std::vector< float>>
AL::_get_type<std::vector< int>> AL::detail::_get_type<std::vector< int>>
AL::_get_type<std::vector< std::string>> AL::detail::_get_type<std::vector< std::string>>
AL::_get_type<T &> AL::detail::_get_type<T &>
AL::_get_type<T *> AL::detail::_get_type<T *>
AL::_get_type<void> AL::detail::_get_type<void>
AL::_pcall AL::detail::_pcall
AL::_pcall0 AL::detail::_pcall0
AL::_pcall1<P1> AL::detail::_pcall1<P1>
AL::_pcall2<P1, P2> AL::detail::_pcall2<P1, P2>
AL::_pcall3<P1, P2, P3> AL::detail::_pcall3<P1, P2, P3>
AL::_pcall4<P1, P2, P3, P4> AL::detail::_pcall4<P1, P2, P3, P4>
AL::_pcall5<P1, P2, P3, P4, P5> AL::detail::_pcall5<P1, P2, P3, P4, P5>
AL::_pcall6<P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6> AL::detail::_pcall6<P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6>
AL::_pcalln AL::detail::_pcalln
AL::_pcallScript AL::detail::_pcallScript

Removed classes

Removed class Reason/ Replacement
AL::al__ALModuleInfoNaoqi private
AL::ALBrokerInfo private
AL::ALBrokerInfoIPC private
AL::ALBrokerInfoRPC private
AL::ALBrokerProxy private
AL::ALBrokerProxyIPC private
AL::ALCallQueue private
AL::ALCallQueueManager private
AL::ALConnection private
AL::ALConnectionInformation private
AL::ALEnqueueRequest private
AL::ALFileManager private
AL::ALFunctionMonitoring private
AL::ALLogSection private
AL::ALMonitoredSection private
AL::ALNetwork private
AL::ALRemotePCallPool private
AL::ALTaskMonitor private
AL::AsynchronousCallTools private
AL::AsynchronousTask private
AL::AsynchronousTaskModule private
AL::AsynchronousTaskMonitor private
AL::AsynchronousTaskMonitorModule private
AL::BrokerTask private
AL::enqueue_request private
AL::remotePCallElement private
  • ALSharedClass
  • dummySharedClass
use: - qi::os::dlerror() - qi::os::dlopen() - qi::os::dlclose() - qi::os::dlsym()

ALSharedClass was just a tiny library to help handling dlopen and dlsym in an cross-platform way, and this is now done by cross-platform functions.

new:

const char* libPath = ....;
void* handle;
handle = qi::os::dlopen(libPath);
if (!handle)
{
  std::cerr << "Could not load: " << libPath
            << std::endl
            << "Error was: " << qi::os::dlerror()
            << std::endl;
  return;
}
// We are going to find the symbol for a function with
// no parameters returning an int, named _register_plugin
typedef int register_plugin_t();
register_plugin_t*  register_plugin = qi::os::dlsym(handle, "register_plugin");
if (!register_plugin)
{
  std::cerr << "Could not find symbol 'register_plugin' in " << libPath
            << std::endl;
            << "Error was: " << qi::os::dlerror()
            << std::endl;
  return;
}

// Do something with register_plugin...

Note

the argument of qi::os::dlopen is the full path of the library (including the ‘lib’ prefix on unix, and the ‘.so’, ‘.dll’ or ‘.dylib’ prefix) See qi::path::findLib() for a cross-platform way of finding a library

Renamed classes

Old name New name
ALVisionImage AL::ALImage