A transmitting apparatus for transmitting a hierarchical structure of a directory for hierarchically managing locations of contents data is disclosed, that includes a managing unit for managing a hierarchical structure of a directory composed of a container entry and a leaf entry, a container entry containing information in the immediately lower hierarchical level thereof, a leaf entry being disposed in the immediately lower hierarchical level of a container entry, a leaf entry not containing information in the immediately lower hierarchical level thereof, a detecting unit for detecting a change of the hierarchical structure of the directory managed by the managing unit and obtaining position information and identification information corresponding to the detected result, the position information representing the position of a container entry in the hierarchical structure of the directory, the identification information identifying a leaf entry corresponding to the hierarchical structure of the directory, and a transmitting unit for transmitting the position information and the identification information.