Robotics - ROS2 Tests

Use cases

Passing ROS Arguments to ROS2 Test Executables

When writing integration tests in ROS2, you may need to pass command-line parameters (--ros-args -p <param>:=<value>) to your test binaries. By default, GTest’s main() intercepts all arguments, so ROS2 parameters aren’t automatically applied. Follow these steps to forward ROS arguments into your tests:

1. Provide a Custom main(). Override GTest’s default entry point and initialize both GTest and rclcpp with the original arguments:

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#include <gtest/gtest.h>
#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>
#include <vector>
#include <string>

// Store all of main()’s argv into a global for later
static std::vector<std::string> g_test_args;

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
  ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
  g_test_args.assign(argv, argv + argc);
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  int ret = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return ret;
}

1. Forward Arguments in Your Test Fixture. In your fixture’s SetUp(), pass the captured arguments into NodeOptions so your node picks up any --ros-args parameters:

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void SetUp() override {
  rclcpp::NodeOptions options;
  options.arguments(g_test_args);
  options.parameter_overrides({
    ... 
  });
  node_ = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("test_node", options);

  // Declare and retrieve your own parameter
  node_->declare_parameter("visualize", false);
  node_->get_parameter("visualize", visualize_);
}

1. Run Your Test with ROS Args. Finally, invoke your test binary with: ./test_integrate_imu --ros-args -p visualize:=true

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