Any

The Any function is a boolean aggregate function that determines whether at least one element in a collection satisfies a specified condition, or whether a collection contains any elements at all. It returns true if any element meets the criteria (or if the collection is non-empty when no criteria is provided), or false otherwise.

Function Name: Any

Return Type: Boolean

Syntax

The Any function can be called with the following syntax:

Syntax 1 - Check for Non-Empty Collection:

Any(collection)

Syntax 2 - Check with Criteria:

Any(collection, criteria)

Named Parameter Syntax:

Any(collection -> <collection_expression>, criteria -> <lambda_expression>)

Parameters

Parameter

Type

Required

Description

collection

Collection

Yes

The collection of elements to evaluate. Can be an array, query result, or any collection expression.

criteria

Lambda

No

A lambda expression that defines the condition to check. Takes one parameter representing the current element and returns a boolean. If omitted, the function simply checks if the collection is non-empty.

Return Value

  • Type: Boolean

  • Returns:

    • true if at least one element in the collection satisfies the criteria

    • true if the collection is non-empty and no criteria is specified

    • false if no elements satisfy the criteria

    • false if the collection is empty

Evaluation Rules

The Any function follows these evaluation rules:

  1. Short-Circuit Evaluation: Stops evaluating as soon as any element satisfies the criteria and returns true

  2. Empty Collections: Returns false for empty collections

  3. No Criteria: When criteria is omitted, returns true for any non-empty collection

  4. Null/Undefined Handling: Null or undefined values are passed to the criteria lambda; the lambda determines how to handle them

  5. Early Exit: Only needs one matching element to return true

  6. Boolean Criteria: When provided, the criteria lambda must return a boolean value

  7. Order of Evaluation: Elements are evaluated in the order they appear in the collection

Use Cases

The Any function is useful for:

  • Existence Checks: Verifying that at least one item meets certain criteria

  • Filtering Detection: Determining if filtering will yield any results before performing expensive operations

  • Validation: Checking for the presence of specific values or conditions

  • Business Logic: Implementing rules like “at least one item must be approved”

  • Data Quality: Detecting presence of invalid or problematic data

  • Collection Testing: Simply checking if a collection contains any elements

Examples

{
  "Comment_Any_1": "Check if salary of any employee older than 40 is greater than 144000.",
  "Any_1": "$value(Any(Companies.Select(c => c.Employees).Where(e => e.Age >= 40), e => e.Salary > 144000))",

  "Comment_Any_2": "Another way to check check if salary of any employee older than 40 is greater than 144000.",
  "Any_2": "$value(Any(Companies.Select(c => c.Employees), e => e.Age < 40 || e.Salary > 144000))",

  "Comment_Any_3": "Check if collection has any item. Optional 'criteria' parameter is not used.",
  "Any_3": "$value(Any(Companies.Select(c => c.Employees)))",

  "Comment_Any_4": "Demo of using named parameters to make the intent clear.",
  "Any_4": "$value(Any(collection -> Companies.Select(c => c.Employees), criteria -> e => e.Age < 40 || e.Salary > 144000))"
}