Overview

There are two main concepts in the ROS packaging system: packages and stacks. Packages are the main unit for organizing and building software in ROS. A package may contain runtime processes (e.g. ROS nodes), a library, datasets, configuration files, or anything else that is usefully organized together. Stacks are collections of packages that provide aggregate functionality, such as a “navigation stack.” Stacks are also how ROS software is released and have associated version numbers.

So, packages are the smallest unit in which ROS software is built; stacks are the smallest unit in which ROS software is released.

Packages and stacks each have associated manifests: manifest.xml for packages and stack.xml for stacks.

You can continue reading the sections below to find out more about these concepts and files.

• ROS packages
  • Common Files and Directories
  • Command-line Tools
• ROS stacks
  • Unary stacks
  • Command-line Tools
• Environment Variables
  • Essential
  • Optional
• Package manifest files
  • Uses
  • XML Reference
  • Example
  • Types of Dependencies
  • Tools
  • Library Support
• Stack manifest files
  • Uses
  • XML Reference
  • Example
  • Tools
  • Library Support