Patent ID: 7296289

Claim:
An access management method of receiving a same command message having both setting and changing functions, performing corresponding processing, and transmitting the result to an external apparatus, comprising: receiving in the same command message having both setting and changing functions, information including a length for a data element; determining whether the length of the data element is a suitable size, including: implementing a memory storing a table containing identification information, location information, allowable length information, and discrimination information, which discriminates whether the allowable length information is fixed length information or a maximum length, of each of a plurality of data elements; implementing size determining means for, when receiving a same command having a plurality of functions and including identification information and setting data of a data element from an external apparatus, looking up allowable length information of the data element and discrimination information for discriminating whether the allowable length information is fixed length information or a maximum length, and determining whether a length of the received data element equals the fixed length information if the allowable length information is the fixed length information or determining whether the length of the received data element is not more than the maximum length if the allowable length information is the maximum length; and implementing means for setting the data if said size determining means determines that a size of the received data is a suitable size; and checking the presence/absence of the data element to be accessed when receiving the same command message having both said setting and changing functions to reflect that the length of the data element is a suitable size.