Patent ID: 7624152

Claim:
A method for performing format conversion of a file attached to an electronic message, the method comprising: accepting a message entered by a user at a sending device; accepting the user's selection of a file to be copied for accompanying the message as a file attachment at the sending device, wherein the file attachment is in a first file format of a file category; prompting the user as to whether or not the file attachment should be converted from the first file format to a second file format in the file category, wherein converting the file attachment is not performed unless an input is received from the user indicating that the file attachment should be converted; converting the file attachment from the first file format to a second file format of the file category; quarantining the file attachment in the first file format; transmitting the message entered by the user to a message recipient, wherein the transmitted message is accompanied by the converted file attachment in the second file format of the file category, the converted file attachment in the second file format being associated with a flag indicating that the converted file attachment has been converted from a different format; receiving a request from the message recipient for the quarantined file attachment in the first file format; and transmitting the file attachment in the first file format to the message recipient in response to the request; wherein the second file format is selected based upon at least one of a mailbox size limitation or an attached file size limitation applicable to a message recipient's incoming electronic messages, the sending device sending a pre-message inquiry to the receiving device over the communication network to determine whether the electronic mailbox of the message recipient has a message size limitation and/or a mailbox size limit.