Integrate with colcon build tool (multi-root workspace)

[Ryanf55]

Background

I'm a robotics developer who uses colcon to build and test multiple C++ packages.

An example repository is navigation2, which contains a number of folders with CMakeLists in each project. There is no top-level CMakeLists. The repository contains a VSCode devcontainer at the top level. Developers will usually be making code changes in multiple projects in a single development task.

In CLI, to build the whole project, you type colcon build, which recursively builds each project in the correct order (specified by the package.xml).

As a ROS developer who uses CMake a lot, I really struggle to use the CMake Tools when working in a colcon project because of the multi-root workspace.

Desired behavior

I can run a build task that "builds everything" under the CMake tools. If there is an error at configure time, the CMake tools will automatically add a breakpoint and open the CMake tools debugger

Actual behavior

I have to build all the dependent packages, then configure with VSCode to select the failing package as the root, source the workspace, and rebuild with the debugger. If I am doing a build system rework, such as changing the name of a target used in many other projects in the workspace, this workflow is very tedius and time consuming.

Request

Are there any recommendations for working in a multi-root workspace where there is not a single top level workspace.
I understand colcon is a tool not all CMake developers use, however I can imagine there are others with similar repository layouts that use build scripts to build multiple packages and want a similar debug experience for CMake configuration.