One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for facilitating a universal file conversion hub to convert structured or unstructured data to structured data suitable for display on mobile or hand-held devices. During operation, the system receives a file which contains structured or unstructured data, or a mixture of both. The system determines a type of the received file and analyzes content, formatting style, or both, of the received file based on the file type. The system further generates a processable extensible markup language file, which substantially retains a layout of the received file, thereby facilitating display of the file on mobile or hand-held devices.