Causing a spawned ERP process to retrieve and return search results

One or more computer-readable storage media containing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• determining, by a first computing device, a set of data storage systems referenced by a received user-specified query;
• determining, by the first computing device, how many and what type of external results provider (ERP) processes support searching the set of data storage systems referenced by the received user-specified query;
• spawning, by the first computing device, one or more instances of the ERP processes based on the determining of how many and what type, thereby causing each spawned ERP process to execute an interface through which the first computing device retrieves a set of search results responsive to a corresponding portion of the received user-specified query from a corresponding one of the data storage systems referenced by the corresponding portion of the received user-specified query, by triggering the spawned ERP process to:
• transform the corresponding portion of the received user-specified query into a transformed query with a syntax that is compatible with the corresponding one of the data storage systems;
• establish communication with an interface application of the spawned ERP process installed at the corresponding one of the data storage systems, and
• pass the transformed query to the interface application at the corresponding one of the data storage systems;
• and
• providing, from the first computing device to a second computing device, aggregated search results based on the set of search results from each of the data storage systems.

A computing system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more computer-readable storage media containing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
• determining, by a first computing device, a set of data storage systems referenced by a received user-specified query;
• determining, by the first computing device, how many and what type of external results provider (ERP) processes support searching the set of data storage systems referenced by the received user-specified query;
• spawning, by the first computing device, one or more instances of the ERP processes based on the determining of how many and what type, thereby causing each spawned ERP process to execute an interface through which the first computing device retrieves a set of search results responsive to a corresponding portion of the received user-specified query from a corresponding one of the data storage systems referenced by the corresponding portion of the received user-specified query, by triggering the spawned ERP process to:
• transform the corresponding portion of the received user-specified query into a transformed query with a syntax that is compatible with the corresponding one of the data storage systems;
• establish communication with an interface application of the spawned ERP process installed at the corresponding one of the data storage systems, and
• pass the transformed query to the interface application at the corresponding one of the data storage systems;
• and
• providing, from the first computing device to a second computing device, aggregated search results based on the set of search results from each of the data storage systems.