Pre-v8.0 merge to master

Merge changes associated with v8.0 from devel to master.

ros_acomms/src/acomms_codecs/__init__.py

+import importlib
+import pkgutil
+import os
+import rospy
+import sys
+
+default_codecs = {
+    name.split(".")[-1].split("_")[0]: importlib.import_module(name)
+    for finder, name, ispkg in pkgutil.iter_modules(__path__, __name__ + ".")
+    if name.endswith("_packet_codec") and name != "acomms_codecs.base_packet_codec"
+}
+
+custom_codecs = {}
+custom_packet_codec_paths = rospy.get_param("custom_packet_codec_paths", None)
+
+if custom_packet_codec_paths is not None:
+    try:
+        for codec in (
+            custom_packet_codec_paths
+            if isinstance(custom_packet_codec_paths, list)
+            else [custom_packet_codec_paths]
+        ):
+            path, module_name = os.path.split(codec)
+            sys.path.append(path)
+            codec = importlib.import_module(module_name, path)
+            custom_codecs = {
+                name.split(".")[-1].split("_")[0]: importlib.import_module(name)
+                for finder, name, ispkg in pkgutil.walk_packages(
+                    __path__, __name__ + "."
+                )
+                if name.endswith("_packet_codec")
+            }
+    except OSError as exception:
+        rospy.logerr(
+            f"OSError occured when loading custom packet codecs, check provided path: {exception}"
+        )
+        raise OSError(
+            "OSError occured when loading custom packet codecs, check provided path"
+        ) from exception
+    except ImportError as exception:
+        rospy.logerr(
+            f"ImportError occured when loading custom packet codecs: {exception}"
+        )
+        raise ImportError(
+            "ImportError occured when loading custom packet codecs"
+        ) from exception
+    except Exception as exception:
+        rospy.logerr(
+            f"An unhandled error occured while loading custom packet codecs: {exception}"
+        )
+        raise Exception(
+            "An unhandled error occured while loading custom packet codecs"
+        ) from exception
+else:
+    rospy.loginfo("No custom packet codecs specified, using defaults")
+
+packet_codecs = {**default_codecs, **custom_codecs}