pub trait Tracer {
    type Span: Span;

    // Required methods
    fn start_with_context<T>(&self, name: T, parent_cx: &Context) -> Self::Span
       where T: Into<Cow<'static, str>>;
    fn span_builder<T>(&self, name: T) -> SpanBuilder
       where T: Into<Cow<'static, str>>;
    fn build_with_context(
        &self,
        builder: SpanBuilder,
        parent_cx: &Context
    ) -> Self::Span;

    // Provided methods
    fn start<T>(&self, name: T) -> Self::Span
       where T: Into<Cow<'static, str>> { ... }
    fn build(&self, builder: SpanBuilder) -> Self::Span { ... }
    fn in_span<T, F>(&self, name: &'static str, f: F) -> T
       where F: FnOnce(Context) -> T,
             Self::Span: Send + Sync + 'static { ... }
    fn with_span<T, F>(&self, span: Self::Span, f: F) -> T
       where F: FnOnce(Context) -> T,
             Self::Span: Send + Sync + 'static { ... }
}
Expand description

Interface for constructing Spans.

The OpenTelemetry library achieves in-process context propagation of Spans by way of the Tracer.

The Tracer is responsible for tracking the currently active Span, and exposes methods for creating and activating new Spans. The Tracer is configured with Propagators which support transferring span context across process boundaries.

Tracers are generally expected to be used as singletons. Implementations SHOULD provide a single global default Tracer.

Some applications may require multiple Tracer instances, e.g. to create Spans on behalf of other applications. Implementations MAY provide a global registry of Tracers for such applications.

The Tracer SHOULD allow end users to configure other tracing components that control how Spans are passed across process boundaries, including the binary and text format Propagators used to serialize Spans created by the Tracer.

In Synchronous Code

Spans can be created and nested manually:

use opentelemetry::{global, trace::{Span, Tracer, TraceContextExt}, Context};

let tracer = global::tracer("my-component");

let parent = tracer.start("foo");
let parent_cx = Context::current_with_span(parent);
let mut child = tracer.span_builder("bar").start_with_context(&tracer, &parent_cx);

// ...

child.end();
drop(parent_cx) // end parent

Spans can also use the current thread’s Context to track which span is active:

use opentelemetry::{global, trace::{SpanKind, Tracer}};

let tracer = global::tracer("my-component");

// Create simple spans with `in_span`
tracer.in_span("foo", |_foo_cx| {
    // parent span is active
    tracer.in_span("bar", |_bar_cx| {
        // child span is now the active span and associated with the parent span
    });
    // child has ended, parent now the active span again
});
// parent has ended, no active spans

// -- OR --

// create complex spans with span builder and `with_span`
let parent_span = tracer.span_builder("foo").with_kind(SpanKind::Server).start(&tracer);
tracer.with_span(parent_span, |_foo_cx| {
    // parent span is active
    let child_span = tracer.span_builder("bar").with_kind(SpanKind::Client).start(&tracer);
    tracer.with_span(child_span, |_bar_cx| {
        // child span is now the active span and associated with the parent span
    });
    // child has ended, parent now the active span again
});
// parent has ended, no active spans

Spans can also be marked as active, and the resulting guard allows for greater control over when the span is no longer considered active.

use opentelemetry::{global, trace::{Span, Tracer, mark_span_as_active}};
let tracer = global::tracer("my-component");

let parent_span = tracer.start("foo");
let parent_active = mark_span_as_active(parent_span);

{
    let child = tracer.start("bar");
    let _child_active = mark_span_as_active(child);

    // do work in the context of the child span...

    // exiting the scope drops the guard, child is no longer active
}
// Parent is active span again

// Parent can be dropped manually, or allowed to go out of scope as well.
drop(parent_active);

// no active span

In Asynchronous Code

If you are instrumenting code that make use of std::future::Future or async/await, be sure to use the FutureExt trait. This is needed because the following example will not work:

async {
    // Does not work
    let _g = mark_span_as_active(span);
    // ...
};

The context guard _g will not exit until the future generated by the async block is complete. Since futures can be entered and exited multiple times without them completing, the span remains active for as long as the future exists, rather than only when it is polled, leading to very confusing and incorrect output.

In order to trace asynchronous code, the Future::with_context combinator can be used:

use opentelemetry::{trace::FutureExt, Context};
let cx = Context::current();

let my_future = async {
    // ...
};

my_future
    .with_context(cx)
    .await;

Future::with_context attaches a context to the future, ensuring that the context’s lifetime is as long as the future’s.

Required Associated Types§

source

type Span: Span

The Span type used by this Tracer.

Required Methods§

source

fn start_with_context<T>(&self, name: T, parent_cx: &Context) -> Self::Spanwhere T: Into<Cow<'static, str>>,

Starts a new Span with a given context

By default the currently active Span is set as the new Span’s parent. The Tracer MAY provide other default options for newly created Spans.

Span creation MUST NOT set the newly created Span as the currently active Span by default, but this functionality MAY be offered additionally as a separate operation.

Each span has zero or one parent spans and zero or more child spans, which represent causally related operations. A tree of related spans comprises a trace. A span is said to be a root span if it does not have a parent. Each trace includes a single root span, which is the shared ancestor of all other spans in the trace. Implementations MUST provide an option to create a Span as a root span, and MUST generate a new TraceId for each root span created. For a Span with a parent, the TraceId MUST be the same as the parent. Also, the child span MUST inherit all TraceState values of its parent by default.

A Span is said to have a remote parent if it is the child of a Span created in another process. Each propagators’ deserialization must set is_remote to true on a parent SpanContext so Span creation knows if the parent is remote.

source

fn span_builder<T>(&self, name: T) -> SpanBuilderwhere T: Into<Cow<'static, str>>,

Creates a span builder

An ergonomic way for attributes to be configured before the Span is started.

source

fn build_with_context( &self, builder: SpanBuilder, parent_cx: &Context ) -> Self::Span

Create a span from a SpanBuilder with a parent context.

Provided Methods§

source

fn start<T>(&self, name: T) -> Self::Spanwhere T: Into<Cow<'static, str>>,

Starts a new Span.

By default the currently active Span is set as the new Span’s parent. The Tracer MAY provide other default options for newly created Spans.

Span creation MUST NOT set the newly created Span as the currently active Span by default, but this functionality MAY be offered additionally as a separate operation.

Each span has zero or one parent spans and zero or more child spans, which represent causally related operations. A tree of related spans comprises a trace. A span is said to be a root span if it does not have a parent. Each trace includes a single root span, which is the shared ancestor of all other spans in the trace. Implementations MUST provide an option to create a Span as a root span, and MUST generate a new TraceId for each root span created. For a Span with a parent, the TraceId MUST be the same as the parent. Also, the child span MUST inherit all TraceState values of its parent by default.

A Span is said to have a remote parent if it is the child of a Span created in another process. Each propagators’ deserialization must set is_remote to true on a parent SpanContext so Span creation knows if the parent is remote.

source

fn build(&self, builder: SpanBuilder) -> Self::Span

Create a span from a SpanBuilder

source

fn in_span<T, F>(&self, name: &'static str, f: F) -> Twhere F: FnOnce(Context) -> T, Self::Span: Send + Sync + 'static,

Start a new span and execute the given closure with reference to the span’s context.

This method starts a new span and sets it as the active span for the given function. It then executes the body. It closes the span before returning the execution result.

Examples
use opentelemetry::{global, trace::{Span, Tracer, get_active_span}, KeyValue};

fn my_function() {
    // start an active span in one function
    global::tracer("my-component").in_span("span-name", |_cx| {
        // anything happening in functions we call can still access the active span...
        my_other_function();
    })
}

fn my_other_function() {
    // call methods on the current span from
    get_active_span(|span| {
        span.add_event("An event!".to_string(), vec![KeyValue::new("happened", true)]);
    })
}
source

fn with_span<T, F>(&self, span: Self::Span, f: F) -> Twhere F: FnOnce(Context) -> T, Self::Span: Send + Sync + 'static,

Start a new span and execute the given closure with reference to the span’s context.

This method starts a new span and sets it as the active span for the given function. It then executes the body. It closes the span before returning the execution result.

Examples
use opentelemetry::{global, trace::{Span, SpanKind, Tracer, get_active_span}, KeyValue};

fn my_function() {
    let tracer = global::tracer("my-component");
    // start a span with custom attributes via span builder
    let span = tracer.span_builder("span-name").with_kind(SpanKind::Server).start(&tracer);
    // Mark the span as active for the duration of the closure
    global::tracer("my-component").with_span(span, |_cx| {
        // anything happening in functions we call can still access the active span...
        my_other_function();
    })
}

fn my_other_function() {
    // call methods on the current span from
    get_active_span(|span| {
        span.add_event("An event!".to_string(), vec![KeyValue::new("happened", true)]);
    })
}

Object Safety§

This trait is not object safe.

Implementors§