The Field type is invalid or unsupported for the operation

Error Message

When exporting data to dBase or a shapefile, the following error occurs in ArcMap:

"The Field type is invalid or unsupported for the operation."

Note:
This article pertains to ArcGIS versions 8.x and 9.x. Later versions of ArcGIS may contain different functionality, as well as different names and locations for menus, commands and geoprocessing tools.

Cause

The table or layer contains a BLOB field.

Solution or Workaround

1. Right-click the layer in ArcMap and open the Layer Properties dialog box.
2. Click the Fields tab.
3. Select the Blob field and make sure the Visible check box is not checked.