Patent ID: 7843584

Claim:
An image forming system comprising: an image forming apparatus; and a plurality of sheet processing apparatuses, wherein the image forming apparatus and the sheet processing apparatuses are serially attached in a serial arrangement, wherein said image forming apparatus and said sheet processing apparatuses are each connected to a network, and wherein said image forming apparatus comprises: a system configuration registration unit that registers identification information for identifying said sheet processing apparatuses and registers arrangement information regarding an order in which said image forming apparatus and said sheet processing apparatuses are arranged in the serial arrangement; a storage unit that stores the identification information and the arrangement information in association with each other; and a control unit that sends commands to said sheet processing apparatuses based on the identification information and the arrangement information stored in said storage unit wherein said control unit determines that a sheet processing apparatus that is identified by the identification information and that has yet to be powered on is an unavailable apparatus, wherein, in the case where said sheet processing apparatus yet to be powered on is located downstream of the image forming apparatus, said control unit determines that a sheet processing apparatus that is (a) identified by the identification information, (b) determined to be powered on, and (c) located downstream of said sheet processing apparatus yet to be powered on is an unavailable apparatus, and wherein in the case where said sheet processing apparatus yet to be powered on is located upstream of the image forming apparatus, said control unit determines that a sheet processing apparatus that is (a) identified by the identification information, (b) located downstream of said apparatus, and (c) has yet to be powered on is an available apparatus.