[btull89]

I am trying to get a value from a sql data base and view it as a string.
so, How would I do that?

Also what is the a in "from a"? I did a lot of research and couldn't find an answer.

sampleDataContext db = new sampleDataContext();
var linq = from a in db.Table1s
           where a.Name == text
           select a.Check;
MessageBox.Show(linq.ToString());

[btull89]

I figured out the answer.
Corrected code:

sampleDataContext db = new sampleDataContext();
var linq = (from a in db.Table1s
           where a.Name == text
           select a.Check).SingleOrDefault();
MessageBox.Show(linq);

[FlashM]

The 'a' is just the name of a variable and you could name it whatever you want.

You could write:

var query = from xyz in db.Table1s
            where xyz.Name == text
            select xyz.Check;

If you would like to see what sql query is generated by your linq query and sent to your underlaying database, then use the DataContext.Log which is in your case db.Log