A system and method are disclosed for automatically converting dates and times
in electronic text messages to the local dates and times of the message recipients.
For example, when a text message is sent to an intended recipient, a messaging
server can recognize date and time strings in the message text string, if any.
The server can parse the date/time information into Coordinated Universal Time
("UTC") form. The server also receives locale and time zone information from the
intended recipient's client application, and can send this information to the originating
client application. The originating client application can use this locale and
time zone information to convert the UTC date/time information from the message
string, if any, to the localized date and time of the message recipient. The localized
date/time information is inserted into the message string, and the resulting message
is forwarded to the recipient. As an option, the original message string may also
be conveyed to the recipient for verification purposes.