How can I retrieve a single record using getdata and strongly typed dataset?

the code I'm using is

 Using da As New XDataSetTableAdapters.contractsTableAdapter
            Dim ds As New XDataSet.contractsDataTable
            da.FillByContractNbr(ds, contract)

dim x as string

'x should be filled with the contractdate field value
 End Using
-- 
Best regards
Luc