Enumerable..::.Any<(Of <(TSource>)>) Method (IEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>)) Home
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Enumerable..::.Any<(Of <(TSource>)>) Method (IEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>))

Determines whether a sequence contains any elements.

Namespace:  System.Linq
Assembly:  System.Core (in System.Core.dll)
Syntax

'Usage

Dim source As IEnumerable(Of TSource)
Dim returnValue As Boolean

returnValue = source.Any()

'Declaration

<ExtensionAttribute> _
Public Shared Function Any(Of TSource) ( _
    source As IEnumerable(Of TSource) _
) As Boolean

Type Parameters

TSource

The type of the elements of source.

Parameters

source
Type: System.Collections.Generic..::.IEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>)
The IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>) to check for emptiness.

Return Value

Type: System..::.Boolean
true if the source sequence contains any elements; otherwise, false.

Usage Note

In Visual Basic and C#, you can call this method as an instance method on any object of type IEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>). When you use instance method syntax to call this method, omit the first parameter. For more information, see Extension Methods (Visual Basic) or Extension Methods (C# Programming Guide).
Exceptions

ExceptionCondition
ArgumentNullException

source is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Remarks

NoteNote:

This method does not return any one element of a collection. Instead, it determines whether the collection contains any elements.

The enumeration of source is stopped as soon as the result can be determined.

In Visual Basic query expression syntax, an Aggregate Into Any() clause translates to an invocation of Any.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to use Any to determine whether a sequence contains any elements.

' Create a list of Integers.
Dim numbers As New List(Of Integer)(New Integer() {1, 2})

' Determine if the list contains any items.
Dim hasElements As Boolean = numbers.Any()

' Display the output.
Dim text As String = IIf(hasElements, "not ", "")
MsgBox("The list is " & text & "empty.")

' This code produces the following output:
'
' The list is not empty.



The Boolean value that the Any<(Of <(TSource>)>)(IEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>)) method returns is typically used in the predicate of a where clause (Where clause in Visual Basic) or a direct call to the Where<(Of <(TSource>)>)(IEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>), Func<(Of <(TSource, Boolean>)>)) method. The following example demonstrates this use of the Any method.

Structure Pet
    Public Name As String
    Public Age As Integer
End Structure

Structure Person
    Public LastName As String
    Public Pets() As Pet
End Structure

Sub AnyEx2()
    Dim people As New List(Of Person)(New Person() _
        {New Person With {.LastName = "Haas", _
                          .Pets = New Pet() {New Pet With {.Name = "Barley", .Age = 10}, _
                                             New Pet With {.Name = "Boots", .Age = 14}, _
                                             New Pet With {.Name = "Whiskers", .Age = 6}}}, _
          New Person With {.LastName = "Fakhouri", _
                           .Pets = New Pet() {New Pet With {.Name = "Snowball", .Age = 1}}}, _
          New Person With {.LastName = "Antebi", _
                           .Pets = New Pet() {}}, _
          New Person With {.LastName = "Philips", _
                           .Pets = New Pet() {New Pet With {.Name = "Sweetie", .Age = 2}, _
                                              New Pet With {.Name = "Rover", .Age = 13}}}})

    ' Determine which people have a non-empty Pet array.
    Dim names = From person In people _
                Where person.Pets.Any() _
                Select person.LastName

    For Each name As String In names
        Console.WriteLine(name)
    Next

    ' This code produces the following output:
    '
    ' Haas
    ' Fakhouri
    ' Philips

End Sub


Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0
See Also

Reference

Other Resources

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