Method and apparatus for printing HTML content

1. A method comprising:

converting received Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that specifies content to be printed by a printing device, to Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), wherein at least one element in the XHTML is assigned an element identifier;

generating style information, based on an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) template, for at least one element in the XHTML, wherein the style information is stored in a format object tree and is associated with the XHTML via the element identifier;

extracting placement information from the format object tree for at least one element, wherein the placement information is stored in an XML placement document and is associated with the XHTML via the element identifier; and

generating at least one printer command that incorporates, based on the element identifier, the content from the XHTML, style information from the formatting object tree, and placement information from the XML placement document, wherein execution of the at least one printer command by a printing device results in rasterization of the content in the style specified by the HTML, and in the position derived from the HTML.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one printer command is generated remotely from the printing device, and the method further comprises:

transmitting the at least one printer command to the printing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the placement information comprises at least one coordinate pair identifying a position on a two-dimensional axis and is interpretable by the printer control language.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one printer command is generated by parsing the XHTML into the printer control language and said parsing comprises:

referencing a custom element type in a lookup table to identify at least one command in the printer control language and associated with the element type.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting at least one element type indicating that the content includes a barcode;

identifying at least one barcode characteristic based on the XHTML; and

referencing a barcode lookup table to generate style information based on the at least one barcode characteristic, wherein printing of the barcode content using the style information results in printing of the barcode.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one barcode characteristic is at least one of a barcode type, a barcode width, and a barcode height.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printer control language is Zebra Programming Language.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the HTML comprises at least one command in the printer control language.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating an XHTML output file including absolute placement information.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving a change in absolute placement information, provided by a user, for at least one element, in the form of subsequently received HTML.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving content to be printed by a printing device in a format specified by the HTML.

12. An apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

convert received Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that specifies content to be printed by a printing device, to Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), wherein at least one element in the XHTML is assigned an element identifier;

generate style information, based on an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) template, for at least one element in the XHTML, wherein the style information is stored in a format object tree and is associated with the XHTML via the element identifier;

extract placement information from the format object tree for at least one element, wherein the placement information is stored in an XML placement document and is associated with the XHTML via the element identifier; and

generate at least one printer command that incorporates, based on the element identifier, the content from the XHTML, style information from the formatting object tree, and placement information from the XML placement document, wherein execution of the at least one printer command by a printing device results in rasterization of the content in the style specified by the HTML, and in the position derived from the HTML.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the at least one printer command is generated remotely from the printing device, and the processing circuitry is further configured to:

transmit the at least one printer command to the printing device.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the placement information comprises at least one coordinate pair identifying a position on a two-dimensional axis and is interpretable by the printer control language.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein parsing the XHTML into the printer control language to generate the at least one printer command comprises:

referencing a custom element type in a lookup table to identify at least one command in the printer control language associated with the element type.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

detect at least one element type indicating that the content includes a barcode;

identify at least one barcode characteristic based on the XHTML; and

reference a barcode lookup table to generate style information based on the at least one barcode characteristic, wherein printing of the barcode content using the style information results in printing of the barcode.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the at least one barcode characteristic is at least one of a barcode type, a barcode width, and a barcode height.

18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the printer control language is Zebra Programming Language.

19. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the HTML comprises at least one command in the printer control language.

20. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

generate an XHTML output file including absolute placement information.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a change in absolute placement information, provided by a user, for at least one element, in the form of subsequently received HTML.

22. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive content to be printed by a printing device in a format specified by the HTML.

23. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program instructions stored therein, the computer-readable program instructions comprising instructions, which, when performed by an apparatus, are configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

convert received Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that specifies content to be printed by a printing device, to Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), wherein at least one element in the XHTML is assigned an element identifier;

generate style information, based on an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) template, for at least one element in the XHTML, wherein the style information is stored in a format object tree and is associated with the XHTML via the element identifier;

extract placement information from the format object tree for at least one element, wherein the placement information is stored in an XML placement document and is associated with the XHTML via the element identifier; and

generate at least one printer command that incorporates, based on the element identifier, the content from the XHTML, style information from the formatting object tree, and placement information from the XML placement document, wherein execution of the at least one printer command by a printing device results in rasterization of the content in the style specified by the HTML, and in the position derived from the HTML.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the at least one printer command is generated remotely from the printing device, and the computer-readable program instructions further comprise instructions, which, when performed by an apparatus, are configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

transmit the at least one printer command to the printing device.

25. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the placement information comprises at least one coordinate pair identifying a position on a two-dimensional axis and is interpretable by the printer control language.

26. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein parsing the XHTML into the printer control language to generate the at least one printer command comprises:

referencing a custom element type in a lookup table to identify at least one command in the printer control language and associated with the element type.

27. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the computer-readable program instructions further comprise instructions, which, when performed by an apparatus, are configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

detect at least one element type indicating that the content includes a barcode;

identify at least one barcode characteristic based on the XHTML; and

reference a barcode lookup table to generate style information based on the at least one barcode characteristic, wherein printing of the barcode content using the style information results in printing of the barcode.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 , wherein the at least one barcode characteristic is at least one of a barcode type, a barcode width, and a barcode height.

29. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the printer control language is Zebra Programming Language.

30. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the HTML comprises at least one command in the printer control language.

31. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the computer-readable program instructions further comprise instructions, which, when performed by an apparatus, are configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

generate an XHTML output file including absolute placement information.

32. The computer program product of claim 31 , wherein the computer-readable program instructions further comprise instructions, which, when performed by an apparatus, are configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

receive a change in absolute placement information, provided by a user, for at least one element, in the form of subsequently received HTML.

33. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the computer-readable program instructions further comprise instructions, which, when performed by an apparatus, are configured to cause the apparatus to at least:

receive content to be printed by a printing device in a format specified by the HTML.