Patent ID: 7577153

Claim:
A data transfer apparatus which transfers data from a transfer source device to a transfer destination device via a communication device, the apparatus comprising: a first determination unit, which determines transfer protocols based on a transfer object to be transferred from the transfer source device to the transfer destination device via the communication device, and determines priorities of the transfer protocols, wherein when the type of transfer object is an object processed by a PIM (Personal Information Manager) application, the priorities of transfer protocols are determined by using OPP (Object Push Profile) as the highest priority transfer protocol, when the type of transfer object is an image file, the priorities of transfer protocols are determined by using BIP (Basic Imaging Profile) as the highest priority transfer protocol, and when the type of transfer object is other general files, the priorities of transfer protocols are determined by using FTP (File Transfer Profile) as the highest priority transfer protocol; a second determination unit which determines transfer protocols usable in both the transfer source device and the transfer destination device; a use protocol decision unit which decides a transfer protocol used for transfer on the basis of a determination result of the first determination unit and a determination result of the second determination unit; and a table that makes the transfer protocol and a priority of the transfer protocol correspond to each other for an attribute of each transfer object, wherein the first determination unit determines the transfer protocol and the priority of the transfer protocol by collating the transfer object with the table.