catkin_lint diagnostic messages

This is a list of all messages which might be shown by catkin_lint. Each problem has a unique ID (such as catkin_order_violation), which you can use to disable certain messages, either with the command line option --ignore ID, or by adding a pragma line #catkin_lint: ignore ID at the beginning of the CMakeLists.txt file. As a third option, you can add a pragma line #catkin_lint: ignore_once ID right before the offending statement. Use this if you want to ignore a particular instance of a problem but still be notified if the same problem occurs someplace else. You may also use #catkin_lint: report ID at any point to override a previous ignore.

Since version 1.5.4, you may also customize the severity with the command line options --error ID, --warning ID, or --notice ID. You can also add the pragma line #catkin_lint: skip in any if(), foreach(), or macro() block, which will instruct the parser to ignore all remaining commands in the block until the else(), endif(), endforeach(), or endmacro() statement.

'pkg' in find_package(catkin) is not a catkin package

ID: no_catkin_component
Severity: error
Explanation: The find_package(catkin) call can list other catkin packages as dependencies with the COMPONENTS keyword. This is shorter than multiple find_package() calls, but does not work for system dependencies.

cmd() exports external scope path 'directory'

ID: external_interface_path
Severity: warning
Explanation: You have exported an include path as part of your interface for dependent targets, but that path does not belong to your package. You probably meant to use the PRIVATE scope if you merely need that include path for your build. If you actually wanted to export the path to your dependees, you hould be aware that target properties will be exported as fixed strings, meaning your installed package will break if that location changes for any reason. A more robust way would be to use target_link_libraries(scope) with the proper imported target instead.

cmd() is called before find_package(catkin)

ID: catkin_order_violation
Severity: error
Explanation: Catkin macros cannot be called before catkin has been configured with find_package(catkin).

cmd() is not allowed in meta packages

ID: invalid_meta_command
Severity: error
Explanation: Meta packages do not contain code or data and are merely dependency lists with very strict requirements for the format of the CMakeLists.txt file.

cmd() needs missing directory 'directory'

ID: missing_directory
Severity: error
Explanation: This catkin command processes a particular directory which is missing from the package source folder.

cmd() needs missing file 'file'

ID: missing_file
Severity: error
Explanation: This catkin command processes a particular file which is missing from the package source folder.

cmd() should be all lower-case

ID: cmd_case
Severity: notice
Explanation: The catkin manual recommends that all commands be written in lower case.

cmd() used without if(CATKIN_ENABLE_TESTING)

ID: unguarded_test_cmd
Severity: error
Explanation: You have used a test command without properly guarding it by a if(CATKIN_ENABLE_TESTING) block.

cmd() uses directory 'directory' which is not in package

ID: external_directory
Severity: warning
Explanation: This catkin command uses a directory which lies outside of the package source folder. While this may work in your particular setup, you cannot assume file locations in general. Use find_path() to detect external locations insteed.

cmd() uses file 'file' which is not in package

ID: external_file
Severity: error, warning
Explanation: This catkin command uses a file which lies outside of the package source folder. While this may work in your particular setup, you cannot assume file locations in general. Use find_file() to detect external locations insteed.

export plugin file 'file' is not installed to ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_SHARE_DESTINATION}

ID: uninstalled_plugin
Severity: error, warning
Explanation: Your package can be used from the devel space but cannot be installed properly, because a plugin declaration file which is listed in your package.xml is not installed to the correct location.

export plugin file reference must start with '${prefix}/'

ID: plugin_export_prefix
Severity: error
Explanation: The ${prefix} variable is carefully overloaded to work with both devel space and install space and must be used in all tags.

export plugin refers to missing file 'file'

ID: missing_plugin
Severity: error
Explanation: A plugin declaration file which is listed in your package.xml is missing from the package source folder.

feature requires at least CMake version

ID: cmake_old
Severity: warning
Explanation: You are using a CMake feature which is supported only by CMake version or newer. You should set your cmake_minimum_required() declaration accordingly.

first_cmd() is called before second_cmd()

ID: order_violation
Severity: error
Explanation: Certain configuration macros must be called in a specific order as specified by the catkin build manual. Failure to do so may lead to improper configuration of the package and build problems.

old_cmd() is deprecated, use new_cmd() instead

ID: deprecated_cmd
Severity: error
Explanation: Some macros have been deprecated and replaced by newer versions. Please upgrade your CMakeLists.txt to ensure compatibility with future caktin versions.

wrong_type_depend 'pkg' should be a right_type_depend

ID: wrong_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: You have listed a package as the wrong dependency type. The catkin build system defines a number of different dependencies for building a package, running its nodes or linking against its libraries. As a general rule, buildtool_depends are needed to build the package, build_depends are non-transitive build dependencies which are not visible to users of your package, build_export_depends are publicly visible transitive dependencies, exec_depends are needed at runtime, and test_depends are for unit tests only.

CMake module 'old_module' is deprecated, use 'new_module' instead

ID: deprecated_cmake_module
Severity: warning
Explanation: Some CMake modules have been provided by cmake_modules in the past, but are now provided by the system package or CMake itself. Please upgrade your CMakeLists.txt to ensure compatibility with future catkin versions.

OS error: msg

ID: os_error
Severity: error
Explanation: An operating system error has occured. This is not a linting problem per se but might be caused by a missing or unreadable file.

call to find_package(pkg) shadows previously selected components

ID: shadowed_find
Severity: error
Explanation: You have more than one find_package() call for a package, and the COMPONENTS list of the later call does not include a previously chosen component.

catkin_metapackage() in regular package

ID: wrong_catkin_metapackage
Severity: error
Explanation: The catkin_metapackage() command signals your intent to declare a meta package, but the package.xml does not contain a tag.

catkin_package() dependency 'pkg' belongs in CATKIN_DEPENDS

ID: catkin_as_system_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: In your catkin_package() call, you have listed a catkin package in the DEPENDS stanza, but it belongs in the CATKIN_DEPENDS stanza instead.

catkin_package() dependency 'pkg' belongs in DEPENDS

ID: system_as_catkin_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: In your catkin_package() call, you have listed a system dependency in the CATKIN_DEPENDS stanza, but it belongs in the DEPENDS stanza instead.

catkin_package() dependency 'pkg' is not configured properly

ID: unconfigured_system_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: In order to export a system package as dependency, you must either call find_package(pkg) first or initialize the pkg_INCLUDE_DIRS and pkg_LIBRARIES variables manually.

catkin_package() exports build include path

ID: build_include_path
Severity: error
Explanation: You listed a build path below ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} in the INCLUDE_DIRS stanza of your catkin_package() call. These paths are only available for develspace builds and will be missing for installed packages.

catkin_package() exports non-package include path

ID: external_include_path
Severity: error
Explanation: You listed one or more include paths in the INCLUDE_DIRS stanza of your catkin_package() call which are not part of your package. If you want to export include paths of other modules, use find_package(), find_path(), and/or find_library() and add the dependency to the DEPENDS stanza.

catkin_package() exports package include path that is not installed

ID: uninstalled_include_path
Severity: error, warning
Explanation: Your package can be used from the devel space but cannot be installed properly, because the header files will not be copied to the proper location.

catkin_package() exports pkg-config module 'pkg'

ID: exported_pkg_config
Severity: error
Explanation: Although CMake can invoke pkg-config to detect other modules, this does not work well with catkin, as pkg-config may require you to add link directories. Use the results of pkg_check_module() as hint for find_path() and find_library() instead.

catkin_package() in meta package

ID: wrong_catkin_package
Severity: error
Explanation: Meta packages use the catkin_metapackage() command to declare a meta package. This performs additional checks and ensures that all requirements are met.

condition 'cond' is ambiguous

ID: ambiguous_condition
Severity: warning
Explanation: Historically, the if() command will interpret a single token as a variable name and transparently resolve it if possible. Unquoted variable references like if(${var}) can lead to incorrect results if ${var} resolves to a different variable name. Use if(var) or if("${var}") instead.

duplicate cmd()

ID: duplicate_cmd
Severity: error
Explanation: You have called this command more than once, but this does not make sense. If the calls use different arguments, consolidate them into a single call, otherwise simply remove the second.

duplicate find_package(pkg)

ID: duplicate_find
Severity: warning
Explanation: You called find_package() more than once for a particular package, which is not needed except for very specific, advanced circumstances.

duplicate include path ${pkg_INCLUDE_DIRS}

ID: duplicate_include_path
Severity: warning
Explanation: Include paths of packages listed in the find_package(catkin) command are added implicitly by the ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS} variable. There is no need to add it a second time.

environment variables should not be used

ID: env_var
Severity: warning
Explanation: The behavior of your build should not depend on any environment variables.

executable file is not installed to bin destination

ID: wrong_bin_install_destination
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package installs one or more files to an unexpected location. Executable files should end up in either ${CATKIN_GLOBAL_BIN_DESTINATION} or ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION}.

exported include path 'path' does not exist

ID: missing_include_path
Severity: error
Explanation: You have listed an invalid include path in the INCLUDE_DIRS stanza of the catkin_package() command.

exported library 'target' cannot have different output name

ID: export_lib_renamed
Severity: error
Explanation: Due to a limitation of the catkin build system, the catkin_package() library export function will break if the logical target name is not equal to the actual library name.

exported library 'target' is not a library

ID: export_lib_not_lib
Severity: error
Explanation: You listed a library in the LIBRARIES stanza of your catkin_package() call, but it really is an executable.

exported library 'target' is not installed

ID: uninstalled_export_lib
Severity: error, warning
Explanation: Your package can be used from the devel space but cannot be installed properly, because a library that is exported via catkin_package() will not be copied to the proper location.

exported package include path but no exported library

ID: missing_export_lib
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package exports a package include path and builds at least one library, which suggests that you may want to export the library to other packages as well.

extra arguments in cmd()

ID: endblock_args
Severity: notice
Explanation: The catkin manual recommends that cmd and other end-of-block statements have no arguments. If you have nested blocks, you should indent them properly instead.

file 'script' is executable but not installed

ID: uninstalled_script
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package contains a file that is marked as executable but not installed. If it is a script intended to be run (e.g. with rosrun), it will not work outside the devel tree. If it is not an executable script, you should fix the file permissions.

file setup.py found but no catkin_python_setup() call

ID: missing_python_setup
Severity: error
Explanation: The catkin_python_setup() call is required to properly configure python modules, and the existing setup.py indicates that your package provides one or more python modules.

find_package(pkg) before find_package(cmake_modules)

ID: missing_cmake_modules
Severity: warning
Explanation: You need to find_package() cmake_modules before you can use one of its custom configuration modules.

find_package(pkg) has no REQUIRED option

ID: missing_required
Severity: error, warning
Explanation: The package cannot build without this dependency, so it should be marked as REQUIRED accordingly. Use if(pkg_FOUND) clauses to use optional packages.

generate_messages() called but no message declared

ID: unused_generate_msg
Severity: warning
Explanation: The generate_messages() call creates the messages, services, and actions which are declared in your package. If your package does not supply any of these, you do not have to call generate_messages() at all.

global variable 'var' should contain project name

ID: global_var_collision
Severity: notice
Explanation: Global variables and options are stored in the cache. You should prefix your variable names with the project name to avoid name collisions with other packages.

header file 'file' is not installed to package-specific include path

ID: header_outside_package_include_path
Severity: notice
Explanation: It is recommend that all header files are installed into a package-specific include subdirectory to prevent file name collisions between different packages. The variable ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_INCLUDE_DESTINATION} will point to the correct location.

include path 'path' is exported but not used for the build

ID: unused_include_path
Severity: warning
Explanation: You have listed an include path in the INCLUDE_DIRS stanza of the catkin_package() command, but that path is not mentioned in any include_directories() call.

include paths 'path' and 'parent_path' are ambiguous

ID: ambiguous_include_path
Severity: warning
Explanation: You have used two include paths where one is a parent of the other. Thus the same headers can be included with two different include paths which may confuse users. It is recommended that you keep your include paths consistent.

install(type ... dest) does not install to ${CATKIN_INSTALL_PREFIX}

ID: wrong_install_destination
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package installs one or more files to an unexpected location. Catkin provides a number of standard variables ${CATKIN_*_DESTINATION} to specify installation folders. You should use those to ensure that your package will continue to work if the file system layout is changed in the future.

launch configuration needs type_depend on 'pkg'

ID: launch_depend
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package refers to another package in one of its launch files, but you do not have this dependency in your package.xml

library output name 'output' has redundant 'lib' prefix

ID: redundant_lib_prefix
Severity: notice
Explanation: Libraries are automatically prefixed with 'lib', so your library will end up with a file name like 'liboutput.so'. You can use set_target_properties(... PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME ...) to give your library a different file name without changing the target name.

line is not indented properly

ID: indentation
Severity: notice
Explanation: For better readability, each command should be placed on its own line. if() and foreach() bodies should be indented by one or more extra spaces.

link_directories() must not be used for system depends

ID: external_link_directory
Severity: error
Explanation: Directories which are added to the search path with link_directories() will not be propagated to dependent packages. Use find_package() or find_library() with the appropriate PATHS or HINTS instead.

list name should be sorted

ID: unsorted_list
Severity: notice
Explanation: The catkin manual recommends that list element be kept in order.

malformed argument list: msg

ID: argument_error
Severity: warning
Explanation: You invoked a CMake command with a malformed argument list. Most likely, you forgot to properly quote variables which may be empty or undefined.

meaningless package description 'text'

ID: description_meaningless
Severity: notice
Explanation: Your package description merely consists of typical filler words which do not actually describe the contents of your package in a meaningful way.

meta packages must not have type_depends

ID: invalid_meta_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: Meta packages do not contain code or data and are merely dependency lists. As meta packages do neither build nor test anything, the only valid dependency type is the run_depend.

misconfigured catkin package 'pkg'

ID: misconfigured_catkin_package
Severity: error
Explanation: You use an unsupported way to include a catkin package in your build. Even though this might work in your particular case, you should use the proper find_package() mechanism to make sure that all relevant CMake macros will be run.

missing cmd()

ID: missing_cmd
Severity: error
Explanation: You failed to call a command that is required for your package to work. Please refer to the catkin build manual for details.

missing type_depend on 'pkg'

ID: missing_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: Your package uses features of another package but you failed to list this dependency in your package.xml

missing COMPONENTS keyword before 'pkg'

ID: missing_components
Severity: notice
Explanation: The find_package(catkin) call can add other catkin packages as dependencies with the COMPONENTS keyword. The find_package() command lists additional packages but has no COMPONENTS keyword.

missing find_package(pkg)

ID: missing_find
Severity: error
Explanation: You failed to call find_package() for a dependency of your package.

missing generate_messages()

ID: missing_generate_msg
Severity: error
Explanation: The generate_messages() call creates the messages, services, and actions which are declared in your package by add_message_files(), add_service_files(), and add_action_files() respectively.

missing include_directories(${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS})

ID: unused_catkin_include_dirs
Severity: error
Explanation: You must add the catkin include paths to your include search list, or you might experience build failures.

operands for operator op should be quoted strings

ID: unquoted_string_op
Severity: notice
Explanation: The catkin manual recommends that if() conditions with string operators should have the operands enclosed in double quotes.

package 'pkg' must be in CATKIN_DEPENDS in catkin_package()

ID: missing_catkin_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: You have a runtime dependency that you must add to the CATKIN_DEPENDS stanza of your catkin_package().

package description starts with boilerplate 'text'

ID: description_boilerplate
Severity: notice
Explanation: Your package description starts with a number of typical filler words which do not actually describe the contents of your package. Typically, you can simply delete these words from the description, and it will still make sense and be much more concise.

package exports export plugin but does not type_depend on 'pkg'

ID: plugin_depend
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package exports a plugin for another package, but fails to list said package as a dependency.

package path name 'path' differs from package name

ID: package_path_name
Severity: notice
Explanation: Your package resides in a folder that has a different name than the package itself. This is confusing and might break the assumptions of some tools.

parse error: msg

ID: parse_error
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package has a malformed file that could not be processed for linting.

project name 'name' differs from package name

ID: project_name
Severity: error
Explanation: The CMake project name must be identical to the package name. For backwards compatibility reasons, both names should also be identical to the name of the source folder that contains the package.

referenced target 'target' is not defined

ID: undefined_target
Severity: error
Explanation: Your package installs or exports a CMake target which is not defined at all. This could be a typo, or the target is implicitly defined by a macro that is unknown to catkin_lint.

script 'file' has no interpreter shebang line

ID: missing_shebang
Severity: error
Explanation: All interpreter scripts need an appropriate shebang line, i.e. the first line has to start with '#!' and needs to name the full path to the interpreter executable.

script 'script' must be executable

ID: script_not_executable
Severity: error
Explanation: Your package contains a script file that has to be marked as executable. On Un*x systems, run 'chmod +x "script"' to set the executable bit.

subdirectory 'subdir' contains a subproject

ID: subproject
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package has an independent subproject. This can interact with catkin in unusual ways and is strongly discouraged. No further checks are performed in this subdirectory.

subdirectory 'subdir' is added a second time

ID: duplicate_subdir
Severity: error
Explanation: You added another subdirectory with add_subdirectory() multiple times. This can also happen if you accidentally created a loop where subdir A adds subdir B, which adds subdir A again.

subdirectory 'subdir' is missing

ID: missing_subdir
Severity: error
Explanation: You specified a subdirectory which does not exists or is unreadable.

subdirectory subdir is not in package

ID: external_subdir
Severity: error
Explanation: You added another subdirectory with add_subdirectory(), but the specified path points outside of the package source directory.

support for CMake versions older than 2.8.12 is deprecated

ID: cmake_ancient
Severity: warning
Explanation: Starting with CMake 3.19, compatibility with ancient CMake versions has been deprecated and triggers a developer warning. Most likely, you are not actually depending on ancient CMake behavior and can bump the minimum required version without ill effects.

target 'export_target' depends on target 'target' which is not installed

ID: uninstalled_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: Your package can be used from the devel space but cannot be installed properly, because one of your installed targets depends on a library from your package that is not installed as well.

target 'target' has invalid characters in its output file name

ID: invalid_target_output
Severity: error
Explanation: The output file that your target is supposed to generate contains invalid characters in its name. You probably forget to call set_target_properties(... PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME ...)

target 'target' is not installed

ID: uninstalled_target
Severity: warning
Explanation: Your package can be used from the devel space but cannot be installed properly, because the build target will not be copied to the proper location.

test_depend 'pkg' used without if(CATKIN_ENABLE_TESTING)

ID: unguarded_test_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: You have used a test dependency without properly guarding it by a if(CATKIN_ENABLE_TESTING) block. You must add a proper build dependency if you wish to use this package even if tests are disabled.

unconfigured build_depend on 'pkg'

ID: unconfigured_build_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: You declare a build dependency on another package but neither call find_package() nor have it listed as catkin component in the find_package(catkin) call.

unconfigured message dependency 'pkg'

ID: unconfigured_msg_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: Your messages depend on another package which is neither find_package()'d nor listed as a component in the find_package(catkin) call.

unknown package 'pkg'

ID: unknown_package
Severity: error
Explanation: You are referring to a package which seems to be neither a catkin package nor a known system dependency. You may have misspelled the name, or your rosdep database needs to be refreshed with "rosdep update".

unused type_depend on 'pkg'

ID: unused_depend
Severity: error
Explanation: You have a listed a package dependency but do not appear to use any of the features it provides.

use ${PROJECT_NAME} instead of 'name'

ID: literal_project_name
Severity: notice
Explanation: The catkin manual recommends that you use the ${PROJECT_NAME} variable instead of the literal project name.

use find_package(pkg) instead of include(Findpkg.cmake)

ID: find_by_include
Severity: error
Explanation: The FindXXX.cmake modules are intended to be included by the find_package() command.

use of link_directories() is strongly discouraged

ID: link_directory
Severity: warning
Explanation: Directories which are added to the search path with link_directories() will not be propagated to dependent packages. You should avoid this command or at least be aware that it might not work as expected in dependent packages.

variable var is modified

ID: critical_var_append
Severity: warning
Explanation: You have appended extra data to a critical CMake variable. This might break the build on different systems or affect the global catkin workspace in unintended ways.