Communication relaying technology and communication relaying apparatus

A communication relaying apparatus comprising:

• a communication unit configured to perform communication with a plurality of image processing apparatuses through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication interface;
• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing a computer program that, when executed by the processor, causes the communication relaying apparatus to:
• receive, from a client application, a first processing request designating a first network port having a first port number and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the communication relaying apparatus;
• determine whether the first port number of the first processing request is a default port number for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the default port number being 80;
• in a case where the first port number is the default port number and the first processing request designates the IP address of the communication relaying apparatus, generate selection screen information for displaying a screen that allows a user to select one of the plurality of image processing apparatuses, wherein generation of the selection screen information comprises:
• selecting a particular image processing apparatus to acquire, from the particular image processing apparatus through the USB communication interface, particular apparatus information that is unique for the particular image processing apparatus;
• selecting a second network port, having a second port number, from a plurality of ports reserved for the computer program;
• assigning the second network port to the particular apparatus information such that the second network port is uniquely assigned to the particular image processing apparatus;
• generating a uniform resource locator comprising the second port number and a hostname associated with the IP address of the communication relaying apparatus;
• adding the uniform resource locator to template screen data that is used for generating the selection screen information;
• and
• storing, in a storage device, the particular apparatus information in association with the second port number;
• transmit the selection screen information to the client application;
• receive, from the client application, a second processing request designating the second network port having the second port number;
• determine whether the second port number of the second processing request is the default port number;
• in a case where the second port number is not the default port number, read, from the storage device, the particular apparatus information associated with the second port number;
• and
• in response to reading the particular apparatus information, transmit, through the USB communication interface using Internet Printing Protocol over USB, the second processing request to the particular image processing apparatus that is identified by the particular apparatus information, wherein the second processing request comprises a request for setting screen data for a setting screen that allows a user to select a setting.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, from a client application executed by an information processing apparatus that is configured to execute a computer program and selectively connect to a plurality of image processing apparatuses through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication interface, a first processing request designating a first network port having a first port number and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the information processing apparatus;
• determining, by the information processing apparatus, whether the first port number of the first processing request is a default port number for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the default port number being 80;
• in a case where the first port number is the default port number and the first processing request designates the IP address of the information processing apparatus, generating selection screen information for displaying a screen that allows a user to select one of the plurality of image processing apparatuses, wherein the generating the selection screen information comprises:
• selecting a particular image processing apparatus to acquire, from the particular image processing apparatus through the USB communication interface, particular apparatus information that is unique for the particular image processing apparatus;
• selecting a second network port, having a second port number, from a plurality of ports reserved for the computer program;
• assigning the second network port to the particular apparatus information such that the second network port is uniquely assigned to the particular image processing apparatus;
• generating a uniform resource locator comprising the second port number and a hostname associated with the IP address of the information processing apparatus;
• adding the uniform resource locator to template screen data that is used for generating the selection screen information;
• and
• storing, in a storage device, the particular apparatus information in association with the second port number;
• transmitting the selection screen information to the client application;
• receiving, from the client application, a second processing request designating the second network port having the second port number;
• determining whether the second port number of the second processing request is the default port number;
• in a case where the second port number is not the default port number, reading, from the storage device, the particular apparatus information associated with the second port number;
• and
• in response to the reading the particular apparatus information, transmitting, through the USB communication interface using Internet Printing Protocol over USB, the second processing request to the particular image processing apparatus that is identified by the particular apparatus information, wherein the second processing request comprises a request for setting screen data for a setting screen that allows a user to select a setting.