Patent ID: 8601012

Claim:
A search and transfer apparatus that searches for and transfers data from one or more computers connected to the apparatus via a network to a user, the apparatus comprising: a keyword input section that inputs at least one keyword set by the user; a search section that searches for data including the at least one keyword set by the user and acquires attribute data of concerned data from the one or more computers connected to the apparatus via the network; a reporting section that reports information relating to the concerned data to a user; a reception section in the search and transfer apparatus that receives the concerned data from the one or more computers based on an instruction by the user for the reception of the all or part of the concerned data on the basis of the attribute data; and a data storage section that stores the concerned data, wherein when the attribute data of the concerned data is acquired from the one or more computers by the reception section, the reporting section reports the acquisition of the attribute data to the user, and after the reporting section has reported the acquisition of the attribute data to the user and received the instruction for the reception of the all or part of the concerned data selected by the user on the basis of the attribute data, the reception section starts reception of all or part of the concerned data from the one or more computers, and the all or part of the concerned data stored on the data storage is sent to the user on demand.