FAQ: What sets the initial Zoom to Selected Features scale for a single point?
What sets the initial Zoom to Selected Features scale for a single point?
Because points are zero-dimensional, they do not have a bounding geometry or an extent envelope like polygons and lines. An envelope is defined as a minimum bounding rectangle with a width (x-value) and height (y-value).
When a user selects the option to zoom to a point feature from a selection, ArcGIS Desktop assigns geometry to the point feature since points have no spatial extent. The extent of the entire point feature class is examined, and a zoom scale is selected based on the extent of the feature class.
The calculated zoom scale is 1/20th of the full extent of the feature class.
Note: If the data frame is zoomed out further than 1/20th of the feature class' extent, the 'Zoom To' tool zooms in to 1/20th of the full extent. The same scale is seen in the data frame. If the data frame is zoomed in closer than 1/20th of the feature class' extent and the option to 'Zoom To' is selected, the geometry or extent envelope is recreated, and the data is centered in the data view.
Selecting two or more points does not exhibit the same behavior, since the user has custom-created an extent/envelope and there are (at least) two XY points, which creates an extent for the selected features.