XML system

• US 8,919,652 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2013
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zebra Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: ZIH Corp. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Alleshouse, Bruce N.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US13/890,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20140049796A1
• Time in Patent Office: 600 Days
• Field of Search: 23546201-46245, 235/375, 235/381, 235/487, 235/383, 235/432
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1206 resulting in increased flexibility in input data format or job format or job type
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1243 Variable data printing, e.g. document forms, templates, labels, coupons, advertisements, logos, watermarks, transactional printing, fixed content versioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1246 by handling markup languages, e.g. XSL, XML, HTML
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1285 Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 1/121 by printing code marks applying code marks to labels B65C9/46; marking or coding completed packages B65B61/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0025 the arrangement consisting of a wireless interrogation device in combination with a device for optically marking the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation

Abstract

An XML system is configured to print bar code labels, tags, tickets, cards, or other media, and/or encode RFID devices embedded in media, based upon an extensible markup language (XML) input data stream. The XML system includes a computer system having a memory subsystem, a communication interface operatively coupled to a network, an XML processor configured to receive and process the XML input data stream, and an extensible stylesheet language transformation (XSLT) processor configured to either obtain a stylesheet identified in the XML data stream or obtain the stylesheet from a stylesheet repository. The XSLT processor transforms data in the XML input data stream into transformed XML data based upon the stylesheet obtained. Also included is an extensible stylesheet language formatting object (XSLFO) processor configured to format the transformed XML data into formatted XML data based upon XSLFO instructions contained in the stylesheet, and a rendering subsystem configured to receive the formatted XML data and generate a printable representation of the bar code label, tag, ticket, card, other media, and/or generate encoding information for an RFID device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an Extensible Markup Language (XML) data stream;

identifying, by one or more processors, an indicator of an encoding scheme of the XML data stream;

transforming data in the XML data stream based upon a style sheet and the encoding scheme, the data being transformed for subsequent generation of at least one of a printable representation of at least a portion of a media, or encoding information for an RFID device, based thereon.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stylesheet includes an extensible stylesheet language formatting object (XSLFO) for formatting data within the XML data stream.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transforming the incoming data stream according to at least one of a UTF-8 encoding scheme or UTF-16 encoding scheme.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the XML data stream is received at a print server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the stylesheet is contained in the XML data stream or the stylesheet is retrieved from a stylesheet repository based upon content of the XML data stream.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the stylesheet further includes extensible stylesheet language transformation (XSLT) instructions for transforming the data in the XML data stream.

7. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors configured to implement an Extensible Markup Language (XML) processor module, wherein being configured to implement the XML processor module includes being configured to;

receive an XML data stream;

identify an indicator of an encoding scheme of the XML data stream;

transform data in the XML data stream based upon a style sheet and the encoding scheme, the data being transformed for subsequent generation of at least one of a printable representation of at least a portion of a media, or encoding information for an RFID device, based thereon.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the stylesheet includes an extensible stylesheet language formatting object (XSLFO) for formatting data within the XML data stream.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transform the incoming data stream according to at least one of a UTF-8 encoding scheme or UTF-16 encoding scheme.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is received at a print server.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the stylesheet is contained in the XML data stream or the stylesheet is retrievable from a stylesheet repository based upon content of the XML data stream.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the stylesheet further includes extensible stylesheet language transformation (XSLT) instructions configured to transform the data in the XML data stream.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer readable program code stored thereon, the program code being configured to, when executed, cause an apparatus to at least:

implement an Extensible Markup Language (XML) processor module, wherein the program code configured to cause the apparatus to implement the XML processing module includes being configured to cause the apparatus to;

receive an XML data stream;

identify an indicator of an encoding scheme of the XML data stream;

transform data in the XML data stream based upon a style sheet and the encoding scheme, the data being transformed for subsequent generation of at least one of a printable representation of at least a portion of a media, or encoding information for an RFID device, based thereon.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the stylesheet includes an extensible stylesheet language formatting object (XSLFO) for formatting data within the XML data stream.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transform the incoming data stream according to at least one of a UTF-8 encoding scheme or UTF-16 encoding scheme.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the apparatus is received at a print server.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the stylesheet is contained in the XML data stream or the stylesheet is retrievable from a stylesheet repository based upon content of the XML data stream.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the stylesheet further includes extensible stylesheet language transformation (XSLT) instructions configured to transform the data in the XML data stream.