[API] Create root span with active span

api/include/opentelemetry/trace/context.h

@@ -23,6 +23,16 @@ inline nostd::shared_ptr<Span> GetSpan(const context::Context &context) noexcept
   return nostd::shared_ptr<Span>(new DefaultSpan(SpanContext::GetInvalid()));
 }
 
+inline bool IsRootSpan(const context::Context &context) noexcept
+{
+  context::ContextValue is_root_span = context.GetValue(kIsRootSpanKey);
+  if (nostd::holds_alternative<bool>(is_root_span))
+  {
+    return nostd::get<bool>(is_root_span);
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
 // Set Span into explicit context
 inline context::Context SetSpan(context::Context &context, nostd::shared_ptr<Span> span) noexcept
 {

api/include/opentelemetry/trace/span_metadata.h

@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ enum class SpanKind
 };
 
 // The key identifies the active span in the current context.
-constexpr char kSpanKey[] = "active_span";
+constexpr char kSpanKey[]       = "active_span";
+constexpr char kIsRootSpanKey[] = "is_root_span";
 
 // StatusCode - Represents the canonical set of status codes of a finished Span.
 enum class StatusCode

api/include/opentelemetry/trace/span_startoptions.h

@@ -34,8 +34,31 @@ struct StartSpanOptions
 
   // Explicitly set the parent of a Span.
   //
-  // This defaults to an invalid span context. In this case, the Span is
-  // automatically parented to the currently active span.
+  // The `parent` field is designed to establish  parent-child relationships
+  // in tracing spans. It can be set to either a `SpanContext` or a
+  // `context::Context` object.
+  //
+  // - When set to valid `SpanContext`, it directly assigns a specific Span as the parent
+  // of the newly created Span.
+  //
+  // - Alternatively, setting the `parent` field to a `context::Context` allows for
+  // more nuanced parent identification:
+  //   1. If the `Context` contains a Span object, this Span is treated as the parent.
+  //   2. If the `Context` contains the boolean flag `is_root_span` set to `true`,
+  //      it indicates that the new Span should be treated as a root Span, i.e., it
+  //      does not have a parent Span.
+  //   Example Usage:
+  //   ```cpp
+  //   trace_api::StartSpanOptions options;
+  //   opentelemetry::context::Context root;
+  //   root                    = root.SetValue(kIsRootSpanKey, true);
+  //   options.parent = root;
+  //   auto root_span = tracer->StartSpan("span root", options);
+  //  ```
+  //
+  // - If the `parent` field is not set, the newly created Span will inherit the
+  // parent of the currently active Span (if any) in the current context.
+  //
   nostd::variant<SpanContext, context::Context> parent = SpanContext::GetInvalid();
 
   // TODO:

sdk/src/trace/tracer.cc

@@ -43,6 +43,13 @@ nostd::shared_ptr<opentelemetry::trace::Span> Tracer::StartSpan(
     {
       parent_context = span_context;
     }
+    else
+    {
+      if (opentelemetry::trace::IsRootSpan(context))
+      {
+        parent_context = opentelemetry::trace::SpanContext{false, false};
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   opentelemetry::trace::TraceId trace_id;

sdk/test/trace/tracer_test.cc

@@ -1008,6 +1008,26 @@ TEST(Tracer, WithActiveSpan)
     spans = span_data->GetSpans();
     ASSERT_EQ(1, spans.size());
     EXPECT_EQ("span 2", spans.at(0)->GetName());
+    EXPECT_EQ(spans.at(0).get()->GetParentSpanId(), span_first->GetContext().span_id());
+    EXPECT_EQ(spans.at(0).get()->GetTraceId(), span_first->GetContext().trace_id());
+
+    {
+      trace_api::StartSpanOptions options;
+      opentelemetry::context::Context c1;
+      c1             = c1.SetValue(opentelemetry::trace::kIsRootSpanKey, true);
+      options.parent = c1;
+      auto root_span = tracer->StartSpan("span root", options);
+
+      spans = span_data->GetSpans();
+      ASSERT_EQ(0, spans.size());
+
+      root_span->End();
+    }
+    spans = span_data->GetSpans();
+    ASSERT_EQ(1, spans.size());
+    EXPECT_EQ("span root", spans.at(0)->GetName());
+    EXPECT_EQ(spans.at(0).get()->GetParentSpanId(), opentelemetry::trace::SpanId());
+    EXPECT_NE(spans.at(0).get()->GetTraceId(), span_first->GetContext().trace_id());
 
     span_first->End();
   }