In a data-processing apparatus, in local information storage L and R at each node, local information for the purpose of accessing a constituent element is stored, this information being updated. A plan is generated that represents the action that should be taken by an agent in order to satisfy request code that has been input, this being generated as a set of actions, based on agent information and local information. The operation of the agent is implemented at the nodes L and R, based on the various actions that make up the thus-generated plan, and an agent is migrated to another node, based on a go action within the plan. It is possible to perform replanning and generation of a child agent at a migration destination node, if necessary, because of the failure of plan execution, for example.