Entering a text field should select value by default
There are certain default behaviors that one becomes used to when using a computer and Adobe appears to have completely disregarded this with respect to manually entering values! Please fix this serious bug.
When clicking on any modifiable value field, a single click should select the entire contents of the field by default. If I click on the width field in the Illustrator top bar, I should be able to simply type a width and hit tab or enter to apply. THIS IS NOT HOW IT WORKS.
If I see that my width is only off by a small amount that is easily stepped, I should be able to use the up and down arrows (either in the field or on the keyboard) to increment or decrement my value by the next closest whole number in either direction. THIS WORKS CORRECTLY, but only by automatically selecting the entire value THE WAY IT SHOULD WHENEVER YOU CLICK A FIELD VALUE.
If I click a field value and realize that I want to just change the last two numbers or perhaps the current units, I SHOULD CLICK THE FIELD A SECOND TIME WHERE I WANT TO INSERT MY CURSOR AND THE CURSOR SHOULD GO THERE, DESELECTING THE VALUE. Clicking and Dragging across a value should operate in this same way, CLICKHOLD where you want to insert the cursor and drag to SELECT THE VALUE TO CHANGE. This makes sense because the CLICK-HOLD action is really CLICK CLICK-DRAG.
Currently, I click a field value and think that I can quickly change the value to 50px, so I type 50px and press ENTER (only to get an error that 1050px pt is not a valid value--a total bust to my workflow. So I click the field again and have to use CTRL-A to select the entire contents of the field in order to type the new value. THIS SHOULD BE BY DEFAULT.
CLICKING A FIELD, like tabbing into the field, SELECTS THE ENTIRE CONTENTS. CLICKING A SECOND TIME PLACES THE CURSOR AND DESELECTS CONTENT. CLICK AND HOLD OR CLICK+DRAG SHOULD OPERATE LIKE DOUBLECLICK
This is common sense and Adobe is the only software package on the market that handles this in this peculiar way. Please fix it.
P.S. And here's the deal: when I enter a value and press tab, if I haven't explicitly declared units, use the previously assigned units. Don't complain that I didn't have the right units. I can't tell you how many times I have entered 50% in the width field just to be told that 2150%80px is not a valid entry.
P.P.S. It is terribly inappropriate and completely unhelpful to click an item and be told that it is 100% wide....That makes no sense. Percentages are always relative in context. If you say it's 100% wide, you have to say relative to what? It's original size? the window size? It's parent size? Width and heights should not be presented in % by default. Always use the current units (px, cm, mm, etc). and if you wan to add a "transformed" width or height (to the TRANSFORM PANEL), you need a Context field that indicates what the percentage is applied to. This would be great if you wanted to make a shape with 4 identical columns...you would draw the parent shape, then enter isolation mode to add 4 columns, each of which was 25% wide 100% tall given the context of their PARENT. THen later, when the item is broken apart, the height and width are only available in the current preferred units, not %.

Thanks for your inputs. We have tried doing all the scenarios stated by you. You have mentioned that it use to work fine before. Can you please let me know on which build was it working fine. I have tried it on CS 6 as well as the latest 23.0.3 but both works in the same manner.
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Jason Burnett commented
http://whirledhost.com/temp/selecterror.avi
I simply drew a shape, clicked the field to enter a value and it placed my insertion point in the middle of the current value. So when I tried to make it 50px wide then pressed tab, the shape did not change.
And to be clear, if I am making a big change, it's no big deal, I can see that the change didn't get accepted and no error was announced (which is new). But if I am adjusting by the pixsel and I type a value, there's no real way to know that my 1px adjustment didn't get accepted without an error.
Regardless, the first click on any field or field value should not place the insertion point where clicked. THE ONLY time the insertion point should be inserted where you click is if the field is already selected. The first click is always (select all) within the field value. The second click is insert my insertion point here.
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ritika patel(Illustrator team) commented
Thanks for your inputs. I have tried doing all the scenarios stated by you. You have mentioned that it use to work fine before. Can you please let me know on which build was it working fine. I have tried it on CS 6 as well as the latest 23.0.3 but both works in the same manner.
Regards,
Ritika
Illustrator team -
Lidoo commented
This is very annoying. Also, it wasn't like this before.