Refactor codebase to improve performance, maintainability and usability

.gitignore

@@ -134,3 +134,9 @@ dmypy.json
 # pixi environments
 .pixi
 *.egg-info
+
+# Hatch-VCS version file
+src/rod/_version.py
+
+# VS Code settings
+.vscode/

README.md

@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ This will automatically install `sdformat` and `gz-tools`.
 <details>
 <summary>Using pixi</summary>
 
-[`pixi`](https://pixi.sh) definetly provides the quickest way to start using ROD. You can run the tests by executing:
+[`pixi`](https://pixi.sh) definitely provides the quickest way to start using ROD. You can run the tests by executing:
 
 ```bash
 pixi run test

environment.yml

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ name: rod
 channels:
   - conda-forge
 dependencies:
+  # Core runtime dependencies
   - coloredlogs
   - mashumaro
   - numpy
@@ -10,11 +11,22 @@ dependencies:
   - scipy
   - trimesh
   - xmltodict
+
+  # Development and testing
   - black
   - isort
+  - pytest
+  - pytest-icdiff
+
+  # Optional dependencies
   - pptree
   - idyntree
-  - pytest
   - robot_descriptions
+
+  # Gazebo/SDF processing
   - libgz-tools2
   - libsdformat13
+
+  # Python packaging
+  - hatchling
+  - hatch-vcs

pyproject.toml

@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ dependencies = [
     "xmltodict",
 ]
 
+[project.scripts]
+rod = "rod.__main__:main"
+
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 style = [
     "black ~= 24.0",
@@ -87,18 +90,19 @@ Tracker = "https://github.com/ami-iit/rod/issues"
 # ===========
 
 [build-system]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 requires = [
-    "setuptools>=64",
-    "setuptools-scm[toml]>=8",
-    "wheel",
+    "hatchling", "hatch-vcs"
 ]
 
-[tool.setuptools]
-package-dir = { "" = "src" }
+[tool.hatch.version]
+source = "vcs"
+
+[tool.hatch.build.hooks.vcs]
+version-file = "src/rod/_version.py"
 
-[tool.setuptools_scm]
-local_scheme = "dirty-tag"
+[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
+packages = ["src/rod"]
 
 # =================
 # Style and testing
@@ -158,7 +162,7 @@ ignore = [
     "E731", # Do not assign a `lambda` expression, use a `def`
     "E741", # Ambiguous variable name
     "I001", # Import block is unsorted or unformatted
-    "RUF003", # Ambigous unicode character in comment
+    "RUF003", # Ambiguous unicode character in comment
 ]
 
 [tool.ruff.lint.per-file-ignores]

src/rod/__init__.py

@@ -135,3 +135,8 @@ def check_compatible_sdformat(specification_version: str) -> None:
 
 check_compatible_sdformat(specification_version="1.10")
 del check_compatible_sdformat
+
+try:
+    from rod._version import __version__
+except ImportError:
+    __version__ = "unknown"

src/rod/__main__.py

@@ -1,43 +1,62 @@
 import argparse
-import importlib.metadata
 import logging
 import sys
+from typing import NoReturn
 
 from rod import logging as rodlogging
 
+try:
+    from rod._version import __version__
+except ImportError:
+    # Fallback for development installations
+    try:
+        import importlib.metadata
 
-def main() -> None:
+        __version__ = importlib.metadata.version("rod")
+    except importlib.metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+        __version__ = "unknown"
+
+
+def main() -> NoReturn:
     """
     Main function of the ROD command line interface.
     """
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         prog="rod",
-        description="ROD: The ultimate Python tool for RObot Descriptions processing.",
-        usage="%(prog)s [options] file",
+        description="ROD: The ultimate Python tool for RObot Descriptions processing.\n"
+        "Load, parse, convert, and manipulate robot description files (SDF/URDF).",
+        epilog="Examples:\n"
+        "  rod -f robot.urdf --show           # Display robot model structure\n"
+        "  rod -f robot.sdf -o robot.urdf     # Convert SDF to URDF\n"
+        "  rod -f robot.urdf -o robot.sdf     # Convert URDF to SDF\n"
+        "  rod --version                      # Show version information",
+        formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
     )
 
     # Version.
     parser.add_argument(
         "-V",
         "--version",
         action="version",
-        version=f"%(prog)s {importlib.metadata.version('rod')}",
+        version=f"%(prog)s {__version__}",
+        help="Show version information and exit.",
     )
 
     # Verbose output.
     parser.add_argument(
         "-vv",
         "--verbose",
         action="store_true",
-        help="enable verbose output.",
+        help="Enable verbose output with detailed logging information.",
     )
 
     # File to parse.
     parser.add_argument(
         "-f",
         "--file",
         type=str,
-        help="path to the file to parse.",
+        metavar="PATH",
+        help="Path to the robot description file to parse (supports .sdf, .urdf).",
         required=False,
     )
 
@@ -46,21 +65,21 @@ def main() -> None:
         "-s",
         "--show",
         action="store_true",
-        help="show the robot model attributes.",
+        help="Display the parsed robot model structure and properties in a human-readable format.",
     )
 
     # Option to output a URDF or SDF file.
     parser.add_argument(
         "-o",
         "--output",
         type=str,
-        help="Output file path.",
+        metavar="PATH",
+        help="Output file path for format conversion (.urdf or .sdf extension required).",
     )
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     log_level = logging.DEBUG if args.verbose else logging.INFO
-
     logging.basicConfig(level=log_level)
 
     from rod.urdf.exporter import UrdfExporter
@@ -110,6 +129,9 @@ def main() -> None:
             rodlogging.exception(f"Error writing output file: {e}")
             sys.exit(1)
 
+    # Exit successfully if we reach here
+    sys.exit(0)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()