First, take a look at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...sqlclient.aspx on MSDN Online. Depending on your needs, you'll want to look at the SqlConnection, SqlDataReader, SQLDataAdapter, and SQLCommand classes. One major difference in .Net is that, with the exception of the DataReader, all data is collected into a disconnected memory dataset so as not to consume server resources by leaving a data stream open for a long time. This does take a little getting used to.
Regarding the field name reference, see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f01t4cfy.aspx. I have never had a problem with this kind of access. If you're still stuck, post some code and we'll see what we can do.