Patent ID: 7467357

Claim:
An information processing apparatus for communication with a plurality of peripherals, said information processing apparatus having a user interface for activating a collapse display in which peripherals are displayed in a collapsed form to save a display area and an expansion display in which the peripherals displayed in the collapsed form are displayed in an expanded form, and said information processing apparatus comprising: obtaining means for obtaining peripheral information on a plurality of peripherals including first and second peripherals via a predetermined communication medium; display means for executing the collapse display or the expansion display for each of the first and second peripherals; discrimination means for discriminating, based on the peripheral information on the first and second peripherals obtained by said obtaining means, whether a certain processing can be executed by combining the first and second peripherals with each other, if the first peripheral is dragged while the collapse display is executed for the second peripheral by said display means, wherein said display means changes the collapse display to the expansion display for the second peripheral if said discrimination means discriminates that the processing can be executed, and said display means maintains the collapse display for the second peripheral if said discrimination means discriminates that the processing cannot be executed; designation means for designating the first and second peripherals by dropping the first peripheral as dragged on the second peripheral for which the expansion display is executed by said display means; and control means for controlling execution of the processing by causing the first peripheral to transfer data to the second peripheral in response to a designation by said designation means, if said discrimination means discriminates that the processing can be executed.