Patent ID: 7539698

Claim:
A file name generation apparatus that generates a file name, said file name generation apparatus comprising: an identifier generation unit operable to generate an identifier that includes (i) information identifying a chronological order in which a file is created and (ii) information identifying a hardware that creates the file; a calculation unit operable to calculate a hash value of the generated identifier, the hash value being represented by N characters, which are alpha-numeric characters that are usable for a file name of the file; a number issue unit operable to issue a number when the file is created; and a file name generation unit operable to generate the file name, the file name including (i) the hash value represented by the N alpha-numeric characters and (ii) the number issued by said number issue unit, wherein said calculation unit calculates the hash value by (i) dividing the identifier into a plurality of blocks, each block having N bytes, (ii) calculating an arithmetic operation value having N bytes by performing a predetermined arithmetic operation on the plurality of blocks, and (iii) setting the hash value represented by the N alpha-numeric characters to a remainder calculated by dividing the arithmetic operation value by a predetermined value.