VScode setup with ROS and auto complete

Question

I am struggling to configure VSCode with ROS to have the auto-complete function. I am used to using VSCode with Qt and OpenCV and everything worked fine. For example, for OpenCV, I just edited c_cpp_propreties.json like this:

{
"configurations": [
    {
        "name": "Linux",
        "includePath": [
            "${workspaceFolder}/**",
            "/usr/local/include/opencv4/opencv2"
        ],
        "defines": [],
        "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
        "cStandard": "gnu11",
        "cppStandard": "gnu++14",
        "intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64"
    }
],
"version": 4

}

The auto-complete for OpenCV works fine then (I have the C++ IntelliSense extension). But then, as soon as I try to specify the include folder from ROS in the c_cpp_propreties.json, nothing works anymore, not even the OpenCV auto-completion:

{
"configurations": [
    {
        "name": "Linux",
        "includePath": [
            "${workspaceFolder}/**",
            "/usr/local/include/opencv4/opencv2",
            "/opt/ros/melodic/include"
        ],
        "defines": [],
        "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
        "cStandard": "gnu11",
        "cppStandard": "gnu++14",
        "intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64"
    }
],
"version": 4

}

It's like ROS is blocking everything. What am I doing wrong? I specify that I click on "Open Folder" in VSCode and browse for the ROS package to load it. I am working on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Do you have any news on this? I am also trying to get this to work? The ROS extension doesn't quite cut it. — user1971, Jul 15 '20 at 05:42

Richard · Answer 1 · 2020-07-15T19:15:51.783

You need to generate compile_commands.json and put that in your vscode work directory. This file will tell vscode linter where to look. This needs to be regenerated if you create new files or your compile instruction in CMakeLists.txt changes (i.e new libraries)

I made a youtube video to demo this

I also answered this in a similar post on a reddit: Has anyone got Visual Studio to work properly with ROS?. I've added the answer i wrote for that below;

If you use catkin_make, when you compile,

cakin_make -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=1

A compile_commands.json will then appear in your build folder after compiling.

If you use catkin tools, because the build system is different, you will have a run a script after building to merge the individual compile_commands.json into one

See the issue here for script.

You can then restart VScode, and it will prompt you and ask if you want to use it when it starts. If it didnt prompt you for whatever reason,

In the "Advanced" section of the Configuration UI, you can supply the path to your compile_commands.json and the extension will use the compilation information listed in that file to configure IntelliSense.

Basically, the steps are:

cakin_make -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=1
move compile_commands from catkin_ws/build under your vscode work directory, i usually have it under catkin_ws/src, personal preference
Point vscode to your compile commands.

ROS should work properly from here.

Edit: added steps from answer made in another post

A link to a solution is welcome, but please ensure your answer is useful without it. Answers that are little more than a link [may be deleted](https://stackoverflow.com/help/deleted-answers). — Matt Ke, Jul 15 '20 at 19:03
Hi. If I have let's say `ros::NodeHandle n;` and then I would like my autocomplete to `n.` find my `n` related methods, attributes etc. what should I do ? I mention that I'm using VScode on ubuntu and I've installed autocomplete plugin, and also I've installed ROS plugin. For the moment I only get `n.` -> no suggestions. — Cătălina Sîrbu, Jul 28 '20 at 08:59
Also, what is `Point vscode to your compile commands.` this ? — Cătălina Sîrbu, Jul 28 '20 at 10:02
if you followed the steps shown in the video, you should have autocomplete to `n`. — Richard, Jul 29 '20 at 22:12
`Point vscode to your compile command` refers to doing `you can then restart VScode, and it will prompt you...` — Richard, Jul 29 '20 at 22:14

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 26 '20 at 18:58

I had a problem when using the IntelliSense with ROS. It would simply not search the ros namespace, no matter what I did. So I thought of changing the cppStandard (in file c_cpp_properties.json) to gnu++11 (it's only for IntelliSense anyways). It immediately started working.

Here are the results with cppStandard set to gnu++14

Here are the results with cppStandard set to gnu++11

I have even tried gnu++17, but that too gave limited success. Looks like gnu++11 worked best.

I also tried what Richard had to say in his answer. It works without having to change anything else.

you are wizard dude, honestly, this is black magic :P – Tanasis Nov 20 '20 at 11:47 — Tanasis, Nov 20 '20 at 11:47

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 08 '20 at 18:32

In the file .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json (generated by the VSCode ROS extension), try to change from "cppStandard": "gnu++14" to "cppStandard": "c++14".

ROS is using the c++14 standard, so specifying gnu++14 seems to break things. This was deduced from this question.

An issue exists about this.

VScode setup with ROS and auto complete

3 Answers3