I am working on a Visual C# program and have added a local database through the Add->New Item... dialog.
The guides I have read about using this type of database then instructed to make a data source using the database and then in the data sources toolbar just drag and drop a table to create the tools for entering data into the database and reading data from it.
This isn’t how I want to access the database, though. I want to have completely different controls for the user and then just directly interface with the database in my code. I haven’t been able to find anything that explains how to do this, though. Can anybody offer any advice? Do I need to use LINQ for this or would it be just as good for me to use SQL?
You may want to check out at http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/06/29/linq-to-sql-part-3-querying-our-database.aspx