Patent ID: 8244923

Claim:
An application setting management apparatus connected to a plurality of devices through a communication line, said application setting management apparatus comprising: a reception unit configured to receive set information on certain setting items of an application from each of the plurality of devices through the communication line; a distinguishing unit configured to analyze the received information on the certain setting items of the application and distinguish devices that are identical to each other in information on the certain setting items; a group processing unit configured to group the devices distinguished as being identical to each other in information on the certain setting items, said application setting management apparatus not being one of the devices and not being in any group; a transmission unit configured to transmit information used for collectively assigning the same information to the certain setting items through the communication line to the devices grouped by said group processing unit; a user interface for receiving instructions from a user; and an information generation unit configured to generate the information used for collectively assigning the same information to the certain setting items, wherein said group processing unit comprises a list generation unit configured to generate a list of the devices distinguished as being identical to each other in information on the certain setting items, and a screen generation unit configured to generate a setting screen on said user interface for collectively assigning the same information to the certain setting items on the devices distinguished as being identical to each other in information on the certain setting items on the basis of the list, wherein said information generation unit generates the information used for collectively assigning the same information to the certain setting items on the basis of the instructions entered by the user through the setting screen, and wherein said screen generation unit arranges setting screens in a layered structure for each group of devices distinguished as being identical to each other in information on the certain setting items, with layers corresponding respectively to the devices in the group and overlapping one another.