In Vim, why can't I remap keys to `w`?

In my .vimrc:

noremap z w

When I examine the mappings, :map z shows only:

z 开发者_运维百科        * w

When I press z, my cursor moves as expected (to the next word). However, when I try to use something like diz or ciz, nothing happens. At the bottom of my screen, di andci appear as I'm typing them, but once I type z, Vim gleefully sits idle. diw and ciw still work as expected.

What else do I need to do? Is there a mapping mode I don't know about?

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The problem is that iw is a single text object, it is not modifier i + motion w. You need to map iz and az in this case:

onoremap iz iw
onoremap az aw

. Note that this will wait for you to press z only for some amount of time (see :h 'timeoutlen'). To make it work like iw (e.g., wait for z forever), you should try the following:

function s:MapTOPart(tostart)
    let char=getchar()
    if type(char)==type(0)
        let char=nr2char(char)
    endif
    return a:tostart.((char is# 'z')?('w'):(char))
endfunction

onoremap iz iw
onoremap az aw
onoremap <expr> i <SID>MapTOPart('i')
onoremap <expr> a <SID>MapTOPart('a')

You will have to do the same for all i* and a* text objects you use because with the above code only iz and az works fine; for some reason iw must be either typed too slow or typed as iww.

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The issue is not with trying to bind to 'w', but instead, you're using the 'wrong' mapping. Granted, :noremap z w is what you want when you're in normal mode, but after d or c, Vim isn't in normal mode anymore!

Commands such as d and c enter a new mode, called "Operator Pending Mode". Google for more information, or see :help Operator-pending within vim. Therefore, what you want is the following additional line in your ~/.vimrc:

onoremap z w

Afterwards, diz and ciz should work fine.

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I think the reason is simple:

iw "inner word", select [count] words (see |word|). White space between words is counted too. When used in Visual linewise mode "iw" switches to Visual characterwise mode.

You can remap w to z, but the iw is one command, not i+w. Ex: dz works after:

:omap z iw

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I don't think vim allows you to remap motions - and in your example, 'w' is a part of a motion ('iw'), not a command.

Remaping the 'z' key to the 'w' command worked because vim does allow you to remap commands.

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That's probably because of the fact that 'z' is used for a series of commands itself. Check out :h z