When I Zoom All (ZA), my drawing vanishes

The most common cause of this problem is one or more stray objects a long way from the others.  The Zoom All then causes a very large zoom out.  While it appears that the drawing is blank, the drawing's objects are so small that they can't be seen.  There are two choices when fixing this problem, a basic solution and an advanced solution.  Both will eliminate the stray objects, but the advanced solution provides a way to potentially recover the strays.

Preparation

Both solutions start with selecting the stray objects:

1. Save a backup copy of the drawing.
2. Without using Zoom All, zoom to a view where you can see all of your drawing.  Usually, this just requires several Zoom Out (ZO) commands. If the drawing is already zoomed out so that you can't find any of its contents, use the layer manager (MGL) to view a single layer at a time and Zoom All to each layer.  If that fails, try using a selection filter (SF) to select individual object types and then Zoom Selection (ZS).
3. Use Select Window (SW) to select the visible portion of the drawing.
4. Use Invert Selection (IS) to select the objects not selected by the selection window.
5. Check the selection count at the right-hand end of the status bar to verify that objects have been selected.
6. Optional: Use Object Info (OI) to see the stray objects.
7. Proceed with one of the two solutions below.

Basic Solution

1. Use Erase (ER) to delete the stray objects.
2. Zoom All to verify the fix.
3. Save the drawing.

Advanced Solution (v6 and later)

1. Type XPX to start the Export XML command.
2. When the Export XML dialog opens, click on the Options button.
3. Uncheck the Symbol Definitions, Hatch Definitions and Linetype Definitions checkboxes.
4. Verify that the Entities checkbox and all of its sub-options are checked.
5. Click OK to close the Options dialog.
6. Check the Save Selected checkbox on the Export XML dialog.
7. Enter a name for the XML file.
8. Click Save.
9. When the XML export has completed, you will be returned to the drawing.
10. Use Erase (ER) to delete the stray objects.
11. Zoom All to verify the fix.
12. Save the drawing.

At this stage, the drawing will be repaired, but the stray objects have been deleted.  You can use a text editor (e.g. Notepad) or the VCADD configuration editor to open and inspect the XML file.  Bad objects will typically have very large values for the <Point> x or y values.  Often, the value will contain an "e".  Those values can be corrected to something more in line with your drawing.  To help determine an acceptable range of values, you can set your drawing's units to inches and use Drawing Properties (WIP) to see the drawings extents.  After you have saved the modified XML, it may be imported back into the drawing with the Import XML command (XIX).

For more assistance on correcting the stray objects, contact TriTools Support and include the XML file.