Patent ID: 8330976

Claim:
A copying apparatus comprising: a reading unit constructed to input image data by reading an original document; a printing unit constructed to perform printing based on the image data input by the reading unit or externally received data; an operation unit, including a display unit, constructed to accept an operation by a user, wherein a first soft key to be used by the user for selecting a copy mode and a second soft key to be used by the user for selecting a web mode are displayed on the display unit included in the operation unit; a first display controlling unit constructed to cause the display unit to display a screen for inputting a parameter for a copying process when the first soft key displayed on the display unit is selected by the user, and to cause the display unit to display a setting screen for a web process when the second soft key displayed on the display unit is selected by the user; a register unit constructed to register a URL input by a user into a storage unit, wherein the URL corresponds to data held in a WWW server, and the storage unit can register plural URLs; a second display controlling unit constructed to cause the display unit to display a virtual keyboard and cause the display unit to display a URL input by the user with use of the virtual keyboard when a third soft key is selected by the user on the setting screen for the web process displayed on the display unit, and to cause the display unit to display a list of the plural URLs registered by the register unit and cause the display unit to display the URL selected by the user from the list when a fourth soft key is selected by the user on the setting screen for the web process displayed on the display unit; and an obtaining unit constructed to access, directly by a WWW client provided in the copying apparatus, a WWW server through the network and obtain the data held in the WWW server, on the basis of the URL input by the user with use of the virtual keyboard or the URL selected by the user from the list.