Patent ID: 8732848

Claim:
A file-distribution apparatus comprising: a file-distribution unit configured to distribute to a terminal device an image file and related information received from an image-forming device, wherein the related information includes an authorized-source-user identifier corresponding to the image file and a plurality of file-related elements, wherein the plurality of file-related elements include a file name, an image format, a user ID, a group ID, a source-apparatus identifier, a date when the image file was created, and a time when the image file was created; a source-reference-information storage unit configured to store source-reference-authorization information, wherein the source-reference-authorization information includes the authorized-source-user identifier corresponding to the image file; and a security-management unit configured to (i) determine whether the source-apparatus identifier in the related information is included in the source-reference-authorization information, (ii) permit distribution of the image file if the determination is affirmative, and (iii) disable the distribution of the image file if the determination is negative; a file-allocation-information storage unit configured to store file-allocation information, wherein the file-allocation information includes file-association conditions associated with file-allocation destination addresses and a logical expression of at least one of the plurality of file-related elements; and a file-allocation-destination determining unit configured to determine a particular allocation-destination address of the received image file on the basis of the related information and the file-allocation information, wherein, if the file-related information meets the logical expression, the file-distribution unit distributes the file in accordance with the determined particular allocation-destination address corresponding to the logical expression.