I have a set of related data/objects for which, when undergoing some algorithm, there should be only one valid match. Is there a unique term for this type of set?
A common practical use case would be a list displayed for user selection, or a list of keys that should have a single corresponding entry in a database table.
To illustrate this, here are a few examples:
[True, False]
(boolean)[Forward, Neutral, Reverse]
(state machine status)[Rare, Medium, Well]
(user preference)[Credit, Debit]
(reference type)
In each of these cases, only one element in the set will be contextually valid, where the context may be a database record, an instance of an object in memory, or a question on a survey.
Examples of sets that wouldn't meet this criteria:
[Garage, Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom]
(rooms in a home)[Email, Phone, Text]
(method of communication)[All Countries in Europe]
(places I visited)
In these cases, the set is used as a bucket from which a selection may be made - but the selection is not necessarily expected to be a single item in the set.