What functionality does a semantic convention provide in OpenTelemetry?

A semantic convention in OpenTelemetry provides standard names and values for metadata, which helps ensure consistency and interoperability across different systems and services. This standardization is crucial because it allows developers and operators to understand the meaning and context of the data being collected. By using predefined conventions, teams can avoid ambiguity in the telemetry data, making it easier to analyze and correlate metrics, logs, and traces.

For instance, when different teams use common naming conventions for attributes such as "service.name" or "http.method," anyone analyzing the data will have a clear understanding of what these attributes represent, allowing for more effective monitoring and troubleshooting. This focus on uniformity promotes better collaboration across diverse tools and services within the observability ecosystem.

Other options do not align with the primary purpose of semantic conventions. While unstructured data and proprietary formats may have their use cases, they do not contribute to the standardized, easily interpretable nature of metadata that semantic conventions aim to establish. Control over data injection and extraction is related to the handling of telemetry rather than the definitions and meanings behind the data itself.