.NetCore Versions deprecated, but main versions require -windows .NET version
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2026 7:06 pm
We have a .NET 8.0 API where our reports are rendered. It has been referencing Stimulsoft.Reports.Engine.NetCore. It runs as an App Service in Azure. An Azure App Service does not allow access to Microsoft.Net.Sdk.Desktop (net8.0-windows), it only allows Microsoft.Net.Sdk (net8.0). We have a base assembly that contains our reporting engine wrapper where the data sources are populated, templates are retrieved, and the report is rendered. The rendered report is then retrieved through an API call. Our frontend is a WPF app which references Stimulsoft.Reports.Wpf. We have issues with rendering in the WPF because the WPF references the shared library that references Stimulsoft.Reports.Engine.NetCore, and the Stimulsoft.Base assembly is different between the two Nuget packages.
When researching a fix, I saw that the .NetCore versions are deprecated, but the regular versions (Stimulsoft.Reports.Engine) require a -windows version because they reference pieces of System.Windows.Forms. I cannot deploy that to an App Service in Azure. Do you have it in your roadmap to remove the dependency on Windows Forms for the engine? The .NetCore version didn't have it. We need the base libraries of Stimulsoft not to have a Windows dependency so they can be deployed to Azure.
Is there a workaround in the meantime?
When researching a fix, I saw that the .NetCore versions are deprecated, but the regular versions (Stimulsoft.Reports.Engine) require a -windows version because they reference pieces of System.Windows.Forms. I cannot deploy that to an App Service in Azure. Do you have it in your roadmap to remove the dependency on Windows Forms for the engine? The .NetCore version didn't have it. We need the base libraries of Stimulsoft not to have a Windows dependency so they can be deployed to Azure.
Is there a workaround in the meantime?
- Company.Shared.Reporting - engine wrapper - queries data and renders reports - references Stimulsoft.Reports.Engine (previously .NetCore version)
- Company.Api - .NET MVC API that renders the reports - references Company.Shared.Reporting
- Company.Wpf - WPF project that is the app frontend - references Company.Shared.Reporting and Stimulsoft.Reports.Wpf