Patent ID: 7962475

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a processor and a memory; an inputting unit that facilitates inputting a search condition including a plurality of functions of a device to search for a desired device from among a plurality of devices in a network; a first determining unit that determines whether a size of the search condition input by the inputting unit exceeds a predetermined data size; a dividing unit that divides the search condition input by the inputting unit into a first search condition including a first function in the plurality of functions and a second search condition including a second function in the plurality of functions such that both of the first search condition and the second search condition do not exceed the predetermined data size, when the determining unit determines that the size of the search condition exceeds the predetermined data size; a transmitting unit that transmits the first search condition and the second search condition; a receiving unit that receives each of a first search result of the first search condition and a second search result of the second search condition; a second determining unit that determines a device, from among the plurality of devices in the network, which satisfies the search condition input by said inputting unit, wherein the device is determined by using both the first search result and the second search result received by the receiving unit; a display unit that displays the device determined by the second determining unit; and a third determining unit that determines whether a size of the second search condition exceeds a predetermined data size, wherein the second determining unit identifies, from the search condition input by the inputting unit, a relationship between the first search condition and the second search condition into which said dividing unit divides the input search condition, and determines a device which satisfies the input search condition based on the identified relationship, wherein the search condition includes the first function, the second function and a third function, and wherein the dividing unit divides the search condition input by the inputting unit into the first search condition including the first function and the second search condition including the second function and the third function, wherein the dividing unit divides the second search condition into the second search condition including the second function and a third search condition including the third function when the third determining unit determines that the size of the second search condition exceeds the predetermined data size.