Camera started with `CameraServer.startAutomaticCapture(camera)` isn't listed under CameraPublisher in NetworkTables

[chauser]

Describe the bug If I start a camera server with

UsbCamera camera = new UsbCamera("First Camera", 0); 
MjpegServer server = CameraServer.startAutomaticCapture(camera);

there is no camera listed under the CameraPublisher key in NetworkTables -- indeed there is no CameraPublisher key at all.

To Reproduce Start a camera server as part of a robot program with the code above. Connect to port 1181 and observe that the camera is working. Observe in Glass or OutlineViewer that there is no CameraPublisher key or camera-specific key for the camera.

Expected behavior There should be an entry for the camera below the CameraPublisher key.

Environment:

WPILib Information:
Project Version: 2024.1.1-beta-4
VS Code Version: 1.84.0
WPILib Extension Version: 2024.1.1-beta-4
C++ Extension Version: 1.19.1
Java Extension Version: 1.26.2023121408
Java Debug Extension Version: 0.55.2023121302
Java Dependencies Extension Version 0.23.2023120100
Java Version: 17
Java Location: /home/hauser/wpilib/2024/jdk
Vendor Libraries:
    NavX (2024.0.1-beta-3)
    PathplannerLib (2024.0.0-beta-4)
    CTRE-Phoenix (v5) (5.32.0-beta-1)
    CTRE-Phoenix (v6) (24.0.0-beta-2)
    REVLib (2024.0.0)
    WPILib-New-Commands (1.0.0)

• Ubuntu 22.04
• Testing with simulation on the desktop (but I have no reason to think the problem is related to using simulation)

Additional context My goal with starting the camera this way was to be able to configure both the camera VideoMode settings and the stream default settings. The only obvious way to get your hands on the MjpegServer object where the stream default parameters can be configured is by using the startAutomaticCapture overload that has a VideoSource parameter and returns an MjpegServer.

While writing this issue report I figured out another possible way to gain access to the MjpegServer object:

UsbCamera camera = new UsbCamera("First Camera", 0); // the string is an arbitary name, 0 is the device number
MjpegServer server = CameraServer.addServer("First Camera");
server.setSource(camera);

but this approach as well leads to no CameraPublisher NT entry although there is a server running on port 1181 and if I change the camera VideoMode setting and the stream default settings with calls on the UsbCamera and MjpegServer objects the displayed video behaves as expected.

The problem posed by this is that there seems to be no way to set the default stream parameters -- which is potentially a convenient way to ensure consistent video stream behavior across different dashboard instances.

[PeterJohnson]

Duplicate of #1549; the real fix that is needed is #5135.

[chauser]

I think the real fix is actually #5055, not 5135? I am closing this issue. If anyone else runs into this, a workaround is:

MjpegServer server = CameraServer.addServer("First Camera");
UsbCamera cam = new UsbCamera("First Camera", 0); 
server.setSource(cam);

That is, explicitly create the server before creating the camera.