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Overview

  • Basic Event Logging in OpenTelemetry: Captures significant events during a code path’s execution within a trace span, offering insights into specific actions in your application’s workflow.
  • Handling Errors with Span Status in OpenTelemetry: Assigns an error status to a trace span when an exception arises, helpful in the identify and troubleshoot issues in distributed systems.
  • Recording Errors and Exceptions in OpenTelemetry: Updates a span’s status to reflect errors and logs detailed exception information, providing a comprehensive view of failures for enhanced debugging.

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Adding Events

Events are readable messages that signify “something happening” at a specific moment during a span’s lifecycle. They can be considered as basic logs. 
from opentelemetry import trace

current_span = trace.get_current_span()

if current_span.is_recording():
    current_span.add_event("Attempting the operation!")

    # Execute the operation
    # For example: result = some_operation()

    current_span.add_event("Operation completed!")

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Define Span Status

Span status is used to indicate the success or failure of the code executed within the span. 
from opentelemetry import trace
from opentelemetry.trace import Status, StatusCode

current_span = trace.get_current_span()

if current_span.is_recording():
    try:
        # operation that might fail
        # For example: risky_operation()
        # If successful, you might explicitly set OK status, though it's often the default.
        # current_span.set_status(Status(StatusCode.OK))
        pass
    except:
        current_span.set_status(Status(StatusCode.ERROR, "An error occurred"))

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Log Exceptions in Spans

Recording exceptions when they occur is advisable. This should be done alongside setting the span status. 
from opentelemetry import trace
from opentelemetry.trace import Status, StatusCode

current_span = trace.get_current_span()

if current_span.is_recording():
    try:
        # operation that might fail
        # For example: result = 1 / 0
        pass
    # Consider catching a more specific exception in your code
    except Exception as ex:
        current_span.set_status(Status(StatusCode.ERROR, str(ex)))
        current_span.record_exception(ex)
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