Patent ID: 8176020

Claim:
An image forming apparatus communicably connected to a file server, comprising: a reading unit configured to read an original to thereby generate image data; an extraction unit configured to extract version information on the original from the image data generated by said reading unit; an identification unit configured to identify, out of at least one version of an original file which is electronic data corresponding to the original and is stored in the file server, a version of the original file that permits the image forming apparatus to perform image formation, based on the version information on the original extracted by said extraction unit; and a display unit configured to operate when said identification unit identifies a plurality of versions of the original file, to display the plurality of versions of the original file; wherein the display unit displays versions of the original file that are the same version as the original and versions of the original file that are a newer version than the original, but does not display versions of the original file that are an older version than the original.