The following query helps identify the columns associated with extended events and the format of the column i.e. int32.
SELECT b.[name] AS package ,a.[object_name] AS [event] ,a.column_id ,a.[name] AS [column] ,a.column_type ,a.[type_name] AS column_storage ,a.column_value ,a.[description] AS column_desc ,b.[description] AS package_desc FROM sys.dm_xe_object_columns a, sys.dm_xe_packages b WHERE 1=1 AND a.object_package_guid = b.[guid] AND a.column_type <> 'readonly' ORDER by b.[name], a.[object_name],a.column_id;
As the data is typically extracted and used on SQL Server, I would have thought it would be more meaningful for Microsoft to actually use the SQL Server types i.e. bigint, nvarchar(MAX), instead we are supplied with a you guess field and it just adds another unnecessary frustration for the DBA / developer.