13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the request packet comprises a query text element for specifying a query string for the keyword query.
12. A method for searching a relational database, the method comprising: providing a search object model on a computer to perform keyword-based and structured query language (SOL)-based searches of the relational database; providing an abstract query class of the search object model defining an execute method for causing a query to be performed on the relational database and one or more query properties that specify the manner in which the query is performed; providing a keyword query class derived from the abstract query class, the keyword query class defining a query request using keyword syntax and comprising an execute method which when called causes a keyword query to be performed on the relational database and one or more keyword query properties that specify how the keyword query is to be performed and how results from the keyword query are to be returned; and exposing functionality provided by the keyword query class through a remote function call operative to receive a request packet as input, the request packet comprising query text specifying one or more keywords to pass directly to a search service for performing a keyword-based search of the relational database and one or more data elements corresponding to the properties of the keyword query class.