Patent ID: 7007012

Claim:
An information processing apparatus for searching for data stored in a plurality of other devices via a network, said information processing apparatus comprising: first obtaining means for obtaining a file name of said data, based on identification information of said data, in the event that there is a search request for said data; first searching means for accessing a corresponding said other device, based on a drive identification symbol contained in said file name obtained by said first obtaining means, and searching said data stored therein; second obtaining means for obtaining drive information of said plurality of other devices connected to said network, in the event that said data is not found as the result of searching with said first searching means; first generating means for changing said drive identification symbol contained in said file name, based on said drive information obtained by said second obtaining means, and generating a new file name; and second searching means for accessing said other device connected to said network, based on said new file name generated by said generating means, and searching said data stored therein; wherein if said file name is not found as a result of searching with said first searching means, then a portion of said file name received from said first obtaining means where a drive letter has been deleted is set to a value P, and wherein the value of P is set successively to drive information of each of the plurality of other devices until the file name is found and if the file name is not found then stopping the second searching means.