Datatype definitions allow you to translate from one datatype to another without losing valuable information.
When used as the declared datatype, a datatype definition provides the mechanism for capturing both the literal value and its datatype attributes—such as delimiters, range information, precision, scale, length, and maximum and minimum values—and translating them into a native datatype format that Replication Server can process.
When used as a published datatype, a datatype definition takes the value in Replication Server native datatype format, including its attribute information, and translates that information into a datatype format acceptable to another database, retaining as much information as the published datatype can accommodate.
When data definitions are used for both the declared and published datatypes, both translations take place.
Microsoft
SQL Server does not directly support the new unsigned integer types
in 15.0 and requires to use a map to clause in
their replication definitions.
