zerodds (Python)

Python bindings for ZeroDDS, the native Rust DDS implementation.

Installation (Dev-Setup)

# Maturin in a virtualenv
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install maturin pytest

# Build + install in develop mode (rebuild on code change)
cd crates/py
maturin develop --features extension-module

Schnellstart

import zerodds

factory = zerodds.DomainParticipantFactory.instance()
participant = factory.create_participant(0)

topic = participant.create_bytes_topic("Chatter")
publisher = participant.create_publisher()
writer = publisher.create_bytes_writer(topic)

subscriber = participant.create_subscriber()
reader = subscriber.create_bytes_reader(topic)

writer.wait_for_matched_subscription(1, timeout_secs=5.0)
reader.wait_for_matched_publication(1, timeout_secs=5.0)

writer.write(b"hello world")
reader.wait_for_data(timeout_secs=3.0)
for payload in reader.take():
    print(payload)

Tests

pytest crates/py/python/tests/

Scope (current version)

• DomainParticipantFactory, DomainParticipant with assert_liveliness, ignore_*, contains_entity, get_discovered_*
• BytesTopic / BytesWriter / BytesReader for opaque payload
• ShapeTopic / ShapeWriter / ShapeReader + Shape dataclass for cross-vendor interop against Cyclone/Fast-DDS ShapesDemo
• Status getters: publication_matched_status, liveliness_lost_status, subscription_matched_status, sample_lost_status, …
• GuardCondition + WaitSet
• Sync primitives: wait_for_matched_*, wait_for_data
• GIL release during all blocking calls

Roadmap

• IDL→Python dataclass generator (@dataclass from IDL); then arbitrary DdsTypes work natively from Python.
• ROS2 pytest integration + multi-process live tests + sphinx docs.
• Load QoS profiles from XML/YAML (analogous to the Fast-DDS QoS Profiles Manager).

Architecture

The Rust crate zerodds-py builds as a cdylib (zerodds._core). The Python wrapper python/zerodds/__init__.py re-exports and adds pythonic sugar where needed.

The Rust core is identical to the Rust API — no Python- specific business logic, only type conversions + GIL release. This keeps the binding thin and keeps the DDS semantics in one place.