How to use non catkin package in catkin one

Question

i am trying to do some changes on octomap source using octomap_server, so first i have installed Octomap like sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-octomap and then i have cloned octomap_server package to my catkin workspace, the things goes fine where i can change the source of octomap_server and test my changes.

Now i need to change the source of octomap, so i cloned it, the problem i faced that the octomap is not a catkin package so i cant put it in the src folder.

How to force octomap_server to use my developed Octomap, how to make a link between catkin package and external non catkin package?

Answer 1

Instead of installing from package server, try cloning and building it with your changes.