Tinca/Docs/Widgets/Topic Log

Topic Log

PRO
DISPLAY · NO SETTINGS · 4×2 DEFAULT

Browse topics and inspect live messages

When to reach for it

Topic Log is the browsable, tap-to-inspect list of every topic the bridge has discovered. It has no settings at all: drop it on the dashboard and it lists whatever the robot advertises. Reach for it to confirm what a topic publishes right now, not to review history. For severity-filtered lines from /rosout, use Notification Feed (Pro) instead. For outbound traffic, use Publish Log.

Worked example: inspecting /joint_states on a robot arm

Connect to an arm publishing sensor_msgs/msg/JointState on /joint_states and tap it in the list. The inspect view opens with a live Hz badge and prints the latest message as flat key: value lines, not JSON: no braces, no quoted keys, newline-separated instead of comma-separated. Position and velocity arrays past five entries truncate to the first three values plus a count. App-published topics, like /cmd_vel from Dual Joystick, carry a PUB badge in the list.

Watch out for
  • The inspect view is a live echo, not a log. It holds the latest message only, so it answers what a topic is publishing now, never what it published a second ago.
  • The topic filter matches message type as well as path, so typing Imu surfaces every topic of that schema, not just path matches.
  • Disconnecting resets the widget: the inspect view closes, the filter clears. Reconnecting and re-picking the same topic starts a fresh drill-down, not a resume.

Configuration fields

This widget has no settings. Add it and it works.

Topic Browser

Lists every topic the robot advertises. Tap a topic to inspect its live message rate and latest values. No configuration needed.