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ROS View — User Manual

Simplified Chinese: USER_MANUAL.zh.md

English

1. Loading Data

1.1 Open a local file

Click "Open ROS File" on the welcome screen, or drag and drop a .mcap, .bag, .db3, .h5/.hdf5, or .bvh file anywhere onto the window. Multiple files can be dropped at once.

1.2 Open a local directory

Click "Open Directory" to select a folder. ROS View will scan for all supported recording files inside it and list them in the Data sidebar tab.

1.3 Load a remote file

Paste a URL into the remote URL input on the welcome screen, or use the URL parameter:

https://rosview.com?url=https://your-server.com/recording.mcap

The remote server must support HTTP Range requests and CORS headers. Large files start playing immediately without waiting for the full download.

1.4 Load a file manifest

To show a switchable list of remote recordings from a JSON manifest, embed ROS View in your own page and pass the fileManifest prop (manifest URL string or parsed rows). The public rosview.com standalone SPA tracks a single ?url= in the address bar and does not load manifests from query parameters.

Manifest format:

[
  { "url": "https://cdn.example.com/run1.mcap", "name": "Run 1", "durationSec": 120 },
  { "url": "https://cdn.example.com/run2.mcap", "name": "Run 2" }
]

2. Interface Layout

2.1 Panel management

  • Drag: Click a panel tab and drag to rearrange or dock panels side by side.
  • Close: Click the × button on a tab to close a panel.
  • Auto-layout: On file load, ROS View auto-generates an optimal layout based on detected topics.
  • Split: Drag a panel tab to the edge of another panel to split the view.

2.2 Sidebar tabs

Tab Description
Topics Lists all topics in the recording — name, message type, frequency, message count. Click a topic to add the appropriate panel.
Data Lists loaded files/datasets. Click to switch the active recording.
Annotations Manage interval labels and markers for data review workflows.

2.3 Customising the layout

Use the navbar layout menu (top-right) to:

  • Export the current panel arrangement as a JSON layout file
  • Import a previously saved layout
  • Import a layout from Foxglove Studio

3. Playback Controls

3.1 Timeline

Click anywhere on the timeline to seek to that point. The semi-transparent region shows data that has already been buffered (relevant for remote files).

3.2 Playback speed

Use the speed selector on the right of the playback bar: 0.1× 0.25× 0.5× 1× 2× 4× 8× or Max.

3.3 Step controls

Use the step buttons (or keyboard arrows) to advance or rewind one frame at a time.

4. Annotation System

Open the Annotations sidebar tab to use the built-in interval labeling workflow.

  • Create interval: Drag on the timeline to mark a time range, then fill in the label form.
  • Mark current time: Click "Add Marker" to tag the current playback position.
  • Jump to annotation: Click any entry in the annotation list to seek to that point.
  • Export: Click "Export" to download all annotations as a JSON file compatible with data pipelines.
  • Import: Load previously exported annotations or annotations from an external tool.

5. Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Action
Space Play / Pause
← / → Step backward / forward one frame
[ / ] Decrease / increase playback speed
Home Jump to start
End Jump to end

6. Troubleshooting

Symptom Solution
File fails to load Check that the file format is supported (.mcap, .bag, .db3, .h5, .bvh). For remote files, ensure the server returns CORS headers and supports Range requests (Accept-Ranges: bytes).
Playback stutters Close panels you are not actively using. Reduce the number of subscribed topics in the Plot panel.
3D view is empty Ensure the /tf or /tf_static topic is present in the recording and the 3D panel is subscribed to it.
WASM decoders fail Some browsers block SharedArrayBuffer without the correct COOP/COEP headers. Host the SPA with Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin and Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: credentialless.
Remote file starts slowly The server may not support Range requests — the full file must be downloaded before playback can start. Check the server's Accept-Ranges response header.