This is a data entry problem but I can't see which other forum it should go in.

I have looked in FM Prefs, and there isn't a "highlight contents when tabbing" option. The reason for this is that I often have cause to duplicate records where all data is to be the same apart from a few fields. To give one example : let's say I duplicated a record (Command-D) of which the first 3 fields are to remain the same, the last two need changes.

Ideally I would like to do all this via the keyboard viz.:

Command-D, tab, tab, tab, tab, type, tab, type

(which "highlight when tabbing" would allow)

Whereas now I have to:

Command-D, tab, tab, tab, tab, move hand onto mouse, position cursor precisely in the field, double-click, remove hand from mouse, type, tab, move hand onto mouse, position cursor precisely in the field, double-click, remove hand from mouse, type

which, with rather a lot of records to process, is a real pain in the ***.

Anyone have any ideas how I could "force" FM to highlight the contents of fields that are tabbed to, as happens in various other applications?

Format>Field Control>Behavior

[ x ] Select entire contents of field when entered.

Oh wow, thank you! You saved my bacon and a lot of future work. :

(I guess I should have checked Format as well as Prefs... funny how we sometimes miss - as Basil Fawlty so memorably said - "the bleedin' obvious"!)

It's not obvious. I don't know why they have field format stuff all split off into separate dialogs. To paraphrase Don Norman, "it's not always you, it's poor design."