Information processing apparatus, communication system, and method for processing information

An information processing system comprising an information processing apparatus communicating with an immediately above first information processing apparatus provided in an immediately above hierarchical level above the information processing apparatus in a hierarchical structure of at least three hierarchies, the hierarchical structure including a plurality of information processing apparatuses that includes the immediately above first electronic whiteboard, the information processing apparatus providing a function by software installed in the information processing apparatus, and behaving based on setup information related to an operation, and the information processing apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing program instructions that cause the processor to
• store communication information to be communicated to the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• communicate with the immediately above first information processing apparatus using the stored communication information to determine whether a version of the software installed on the matches a version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• communicate with the immediately above first information processing apparatus using the communication information and acquire the setup information from the immediately above first information processing apparatus upon determining that the version of the software installed on the information processing apparatus matches the version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• acquire a file of the software that matches the version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus upon determining that the version of the software installed on the information processing apparatus does not match the version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• store the file acquired by the software acquiring unit in the memory;
• and
• install the software using the file that is stored in the memory, wherein
• the information processing apparatus is coupled to an immediately above second information processing apparatus that is different from the immediately above first information processing apparatus, and
• the program instructions further cause the processor to provide the file stored in the memory to the immediately above second information processing apparatus in a case where the immediately above second information processing apparatus determines that a version of the software installed in the immediately above second information processing apparatus matches the version of the software installed in the information processing apparatus.

An method for processing information performed by an information processing apparatus provided in a hierarchical structure of at least three hierarchies, the hierarchical structure including a plurality of information processing apparatuses in which a first information processing apparatus from among the plurality of information processing apparatuses is provided in an immediately above hierarchical level above the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus providing a function by software installed in the information processing apparatus, and behaving based on setup information related to an operation, the method comprising:

• storing communication information to be communicated to the immediately above first information processing apparatus in a memory of the information processing apparatus;
• communicating with an immediately above first information processing apparatus using the stored communication information to determine whether a version of the software installed on the information processing apparatus matches a version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• communicating with the immediately above first information processing apparatus using the communication information and acquiring the setup information from the immediately above first information processing apparatus upon determining that the version of the software installed on the information processing apparatus matches the version of the software immediately above on the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• acquiring a file of the software that matches the version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus upon determining that the version of the software installed on the information processing apparatus does not match the version of the software installed on the immediately above first information processing apparatus;
• storing the file acquired by the software acquiring unit in the memory;
• and
• installing the software using the file that is stored in the memory, wherein
• the information processing apparatus is coupled to an immediately above second information processing apparatus that is different from the immediately above first information processing apparatus, and
• the method further comprises:
• providing the file stored in the memory to the immediately above second information processing apparatus in a case where the immediately above second information processing apparatus determines that a version of the software installed in the immediately above second information processing apparatus matches the version of the software installed in the information processing apparatus.