7. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the richness features of the rich text data are encoded in the plain text, then the second legacy data record is not generated.
1. A method for processing rich text data, comprising: identifying plain text and rich text attributes from the rich text data, wherein the rich text attributes specify richness features of the plain text; generating a first legacy data record comprising the plain text; generating a second legacy data record comprising the rich text attributes; compressing the second legacy data record; and storing the first legacy data record and the compressed second legacy data record in a legacy data repository of a data storage system, wherein the compressed second legacy data record is prefixed by a token, wherein the token includes a unique string of characters recognizable by a user and by an application capable of applying the rich text attributes to the plain text to present the rich text data, and wherein the first legacy data record is separate from the second legacy data record so that the plain text appears without rich text, the plain text appearing in one or more plain text lines and the rich text appearing in one or more rich text lines prefixed by the token.