General function failure (_FeatureClass) - Syntax error in query expression

Error Message

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

This error occurs when adding a new feature to a feature class in a personal geodatabase in ArcMap:

Create: An unexpexted failure occured
General function failure (_FeatureClass)
Syntax error in query expression '(OBJECTID IN (6) ) AND (_FeatureClass.OBJECTID NOT IN (SELECT OBJECTID FROM DELTA _FeatureClass ) )'.

Cause

The feature class has a leading underscore (_) in its name. This causes queries used for inserting new features to fail.

Solution or Workaround