Recording and/or reproducing apparatus, portable recording and reproducing apparatus, data transfer system, data transfer method, and data recording and reproducing method

A portable recording and reproducing apparatus for receiving data and management data for managing the received data, recording the received data and the received management data to a recording medium, and reproducing the recorded data from said recording medium, comprising:

• recording means for recording a received data group in a data area of a recording medium and group management data for managing said received data group in a management data area of said recording medium;
• selecting means for selecting, in accordance with a user operation, said group management data to be recorded in said recording medium;
• reproducing means for reproducing a plurality of data managed by the selected group management data;
• and
• control means for controlling said reproducing means so as to reproduce, in units of said received data group, said plurality of data managed by said selected group management data.

A data transfer system comprising:

• a recording/reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing data to/from a first recording medium having a data area in which data are stored and a management data area in which management data for managing said data are stored, said recording/reproducing apparatus including
• first selecting means for selecting, in accordance with a user operation, group management data to be stored in said first recording medium, said group management, stored in said management data area, managing a plurality of said data as a data group,
• reading means for reading the selected group management data and said data group managed by said selected group management data, and
• transfer means for transferring the read group management data and said data group managed by said group management data to an external device;
• and
• said data transfer system also comprising:
• a portable recording and reproducing apparatus for receiving data and management data for managing said data received from said recording/reproducing apparatus and recording the received data and the received management data onto a second recording medium, including
• recording means for recording a data group received from said recording/reproducing apparatus into a data area of the second recording medium and said group management data into a management data area thereof,
• second selecting means for selecting, in accordance with a user operation, said group management data recorded on said second recording medium,
• reproducing means for reproducing a plurality of said data managed by said group management data, and
• control means for controlling said reproducing means so as to reproduce the plural data, in units of said data group, managed by the selected group management data.

A recording/reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing data to/from a recording medium having a data area in which music data are stored and a management data area in which management data for managing a plurality of the music data are stored, comprising:

• selecting means for selecting, in accordance with a user operation, album management data to be stored in said recording medium, said album management data, stored in said management data area, managing a plurality of said music data as album data;
• reading means for reading the selected album management data and said album data managed thereby;
• and
• transfer means for transferring the read album management data and the read album data managed thereby to an external device.

A data transfer method for transferring data from a recording medium having a data area in which data are stored and a management data area in which management data for managing said data are stored, comprising the steps of:

• selecting group management data to be stored in said recording medium in accordance with a user operation, said group management data, stored in said management data area, managing, as a data group, a plurality of pieces of data to be stored in said data area;
• reading the selected group management data and said data group managed by said group management data;
• and
• transferring the read group management data and the read data group to an external apparatus.

A data recording and reproducing method for receiving data and management data for managing said data to record said data and said management data to a recording medium and reproduce said data and said management data therefrom, comprising the steps of:

• recording a received data group in a data area of a recording medium and group management data for managing said received data group in a management data area of said recording medium;
• selecting, in accordance with a user operation, said group management data to be recorded in said recording medium;
• reproducing a plurality of data managed by the selected group management data;
• and
• controlling the reproducing step so as to reproduce said plurality of data managed by said selected group management data in units of said received data group.

A method for recording data and management data for managing said data transferred from a first recording medium having a data area in which said data are stored and a management data area in which said management data are stored and reproducing said data and said management data from said first recording medium, comprising the steps of:

• selecting, in accordance with a user operation, group management data to be stored in said first recording medium, said group management, stored in said management data area, managing a plurality of said data as a data group;
• reading the selected group management data and said data group managed by said selected group management data, and
• transferring the read group management data and said data group managed by said group management data to an external device;
• recording said data group to a data area of a second recording medium and said group management data into a management data area thereof,
• selecting, in accordance with a user operation, said group management data recorded on said second recording medium;
• reproducing a plurality of said data managed by said group management data;
• and
• controlling said reproducing step so as to reproduce, in units of said data group, the plural data managed by the selected group management data.

A data transfer method for transferring data from a recording medium having a data area in which said data are stored and a management data area in which management data for managing said data, comprising the steps of:

• selecting, in accordance with a user operation, album management data to be stored in said recording medium, said album management data, stored in said management data area, managing a plurality of said music data as album data;
• reading the selected album management data and said album data managed thereby;
• and
• transferring the read album management data and the read album data managed thereby to an external device.