Patent ID: 7792807

Claim:
A processing apparatus comprising: a communication device that receives data, using a receiving function of a socket laver, from at least one apparatus on a network using a predetermined protocol; a processing device that executes a plurality of processing modules that perform respective different processes on the data received from the at least one apparatus, wherein each of said processing modules determines whether the processing module is set for use, and sends a registration request to said communication device when each of said processing modules determines that the processing module is set for use; a database memory device that stores process designating information for designating at least one process performed by at least one of said processing modules and a port number for receiving data to be processed by the at least one of said processing modules, wherein the database memory device stores the process designating information and the port number in association with the at least one of said processing modules; wherein, when said communication device receives the data from the at least one apparatus, the processing device refers to said database memory device and specifies one of said processing modules that corresponds to the process designating information as a processing module that processes the data received from the at least one apparatus and processes the data received from the at least one apparatus with the specified processing module; wherein, when said communication device receives the registration request from one of said processing modules that is set for use by also using the receiving function of the socket layer that is used to receive the data from the at least one apparatus, the processing device registers process designating information for designating a process performed by the one of said processing modules that is set for use and a port number for receiving data to be processed by the one of said processing modules that is set for use in said database memory device; and wherein the processing device refers to said database memory device and causes, in response to registration of a new port number, said communication device to initiate monitoring a port corresponding to the newly registered port number in order to wait for the data from the at least one apparatus.