Light
Dark
System
v2latest
v3dev
v2latest
v1

Boolean Functions and Operators

bool

Boolean type

bool or bool

Evaluates true if either boolean is true.

bool and bool

Evaluates true if both booleans are true.

not bool

Logically negates a given boolean value.

= != ?= ?!= < > <= >=

Comparison operators

all()

Returns true if none of the values in the given set are false.

any()

Returns true if any of the values in the given set is true.

assert() (added in 3.0)

Checks that the input bool is true.

type

bool
bool

A boolean type of either true or false.

EdgeQL has case-insensitive keywords and that includes the boolean literals:

Copy
db> 
select (True, true, TRUE);
{(true, true, true)}
Copy
db> 
select (False, false, FALSE);
{(false, false, false)}

These basic operators will always result in a boolean value:

Some examples:

Copy
db> 
select true and 2 < 3;
{true}
Copy
db> 
select '!' IN {'hello', 'world'};
{false}

It’s possible to get a boolean by casting a str or json value into it:

Copy
db> 
select <bool>('true');
{true}
Copy
db> 
select <bool>to_json('false');
{false}

Filter clauses must always evaluate to a boolean:

Copy
select User
filter .name ilike 'alice';

operator

bool or bool
bool or bool -> bool

Evaluates true if either boolean is true.

Copy
db> 
select false or true;
{true}

operator

bool and bool
bool and bool -> bool

Evaluates true if both booleans are true.

Copy
db> 
select false and true;
{false}

operator

not bool
not bool -> bool

Logically negates a given boolean value.

Copy
db> 
select not false;
{true}

The and and or operators are commutative.

The truth tables are as follows:

a

b

a and b

a or b

not a

true

true

true

true

false

true

false

false

true

false

false

true

false

true

true

false

false

false

false

true

The operators and/or and the functions all()/any() differ in the way they handle an empty set ({}). Both and and or operators apply to the cross-product of their operands. If either operand is an empty set, the result will also be an empty set. For example:

Copy
db> 
select {true, false} and <bool>{};
{}
Copy
db> 
select true and <bool>{};
{}

Operating on an empty set with all()/any() does not return an empty set:

Copy
db> 
select all(<bool>{});
{true}
Copy
db> 
select any(<bool>{});
{false}

all() returns true because the empty set contains no false values.

any() returns false because the empty set contains no true values.

The all() and any() functions are generalized to apply to sets of values, including {}. Thus they have the following truth table:

a

b

all({a, b})

any({a, b})

true

true

true

true

true

false

false

true

{}

true

true

true

{}

false

false

false

false

true

false

true

false

false

false

false

true

{}

true

true

false

{}

false

false

{}

{}

true

false

Since all() and any() apply to sets as a whole, missing values (represented by {}) are just that - missing. They don’t affect the overall result.

To understand the last line in the above truth table it’s useful to remember that all({a, b}) = all(a) and all(b) and any({a, b}) = any(a) or any(b).

For more customized handling of {}, use the ?? operator.

Light
Dark
System