Migrate from .NET Framework to .NET Core

[hugo]

Hello,

A little introduction:
My server side application use Stimulsoft for .NET Framework.
I plan to migrate my application to .NET Core, since we have now the 2.0 version that starts to be really to consider.
I did a test migrating and the only dependency from the old .NET Framework that is currently not supported on .NET Core is System.Drawing and also Stimulsoft.
I only need System.Drawing to convert a byte array image in to System.Drawing.Image to fill a few report parameters.
Stimulsoft Flex supports image parameters in string (I send a base 64 string and works out of the box).

Question 1:
It's possible to send a picture parameter with a base 64 string in Stimulsoft.NET as I can in Stimulsoft.FX ? I tried and get: Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'System.Drawing.Image''
If I can rid of this, then it's a less dependency from the old .NET Framework.

Question 2:
As soon I solve the System.Drawing dependency, what I need to use Stimulsoft.NET with .NET Core or it's not compatible at all ?

Question 3:
I see that you already have a new product for .NET Core but it's target for HTML5 and not really server side .NET Core similar to .NET full, right ?

Regards,
Hugo.

[hugo]

Just to clarify a bit.

I render and export the report on server-side (no GUI is required).
I'm using a few parameters and one of them is a Image for a dynamic logo (base 64 string converted to System.Drawing.Image and then pass to report engine).
.NET Core 2.0 now supports a lot of API's from his grandfather .NET Framework like DataSet and so on but not System.Drawing.

What is the path to move to .NET Core 2.0 and not depend on Image parameters ?
Use Stimulsoft.NET, Stimulsoft.Web or Stimulsoft.Net.Core or none of them because Stimulsoft may have heavy Windows calls or heavly depend on System.Drawing (even for the singular use case of render on server-side only) ?


Regards,
Hugo.

[Alex K.]

Hello,

Our components for NET Core are not full-featured .NET components. They are based on the JS engine, all reports are generated and exported on the client side using JavaScript. The server part is used only to manage the report and data files. At the current moment, on the server side, you can only load reports (as a JSON or an XML file), send to report a set of parameters, and also manage the loading of report data. All other actions with the report are performed using NET Core HTML5 designer and NET Core HTML5 viewer.

If you need to export reports on the server side, you can use the Node.js framework. In this case, on the server side, the JavaScript report engine will also be used.

You can see examples of using NET Core on GitHub:
https://github.com/stimulsoft/Samples-NET.Core-CSharp

Thank you.

[hugo]

OK, thank you.

My current scenario is:
- Flex (desktop frontend) where the users can customize and render the reports.
- .NET 4.7 (backend) where there are a few reports that are exported to PDF and send to e-mail (for example), so no UI interaction - a few reports from the frontend that at runtime, the image parameters (string) are replaced by .NET Image parameters because I'm using base 64 string.

1. If I understand currently, the way to move to .NET Core 2.0, is thru Stimulsoft for .NET Core that is a mix between .NET (for the data side) and JS/Node (for the render side) and this way is OS independent, correct ?
2. Can I reuse the Flex reports the same way I can do today with .NET version (ps: my reports are the xml version and I would like to keep that way) ?
3. The JS render supports image parameters in string form (base 64 string as Flex does) - I suppose so, because this is naturally supports by html img and if is target for JS, .NET Image component is not there, of course ?
4. For a smooth transaction from .NET Framework to.NET Core (since the reality this are 2 different runtimes), can I use the Stimulsoft.Core with .NET 4.7 so I can prepare everything first or this is not an opinion ?

Thank you,
Hugo.

[Alex K.]

Hello,

1. At the current moment, yes.
2. Yes, .NET Core components support XML templates, but only for reading. If you save the report in the designer, it will be saved in JSON format.
3. The Image component should work with Base64 images, as render and export. But it's better to check it on your reports.
4. .NET Core components are compatible with .NET Standard 1.6 or higher (supported by NET Core App 1.1 and 2.0), and also compatible with .NET Framework 4.5.1 or higher.

Thank you.

[hugo]

Hello,

All good news for my plans to migrate to .NET Core.
It's all on my side now.
I will start step by step, evaluating .NET Core version that relyes on JS, etc ...

I have on last question more or less related with "changes" but I will post on the correct topic that is Flex.

Thank you very much for your support.

[Alex K.]

Hello

We are always glad to help you!
Please let us know if you need any additional help.

Thank you.