Getting current visible extent

Question

Does anyone know how to use Python scripting to get the current visible extent of arcMap? Mostly just need to obtain the min/max X and Y coordinates for the display area. I guess this could also be accomplished by drawing a rectangle to the size of the viewable area and then reading the properties of the rectangle afterward.

RobertJones6 · Answer

Note - the best, most conistent way to get extent is if you are saving your map document in Layout View.  If your map document is in Data View, your extent may change based on the resizing of application windows.

Same applies to getting and setting scale.

Jeff

Ah, but what I'm using it for is to get min and max coordinates for the display to dynamically query a MySQL database holding several GB worth of point data. Versus loading the whole thing into arc at once. It's a work around so I don't have to duplicate an already established database. Thanks for the advise though.

jbarrette · Answer

Note - the best, most conistent way to get extent is if you are saving your map document in Layout View.  If your map document is in Data View, your extent may change based on the resizing of application windows.

Same applies to getting and setting scale.

Jeff

RobertJones6 · Answer

That worked wonderfully. Thank you much!