Remove a widget from hierarchy

[goderbauer]

I absolutely love the "wrap with new widget" feature. It's great!

I wish there'd also be the opposite of that, i.e. removing a widget from the hierarchy.

[stevemessick]

When you are removing a widget are you also removing its children? Or are you asking for a feature that will promote some child to be the replacement for its parent?

The first case can easily be done using Edit>Extend Selection, but I can see that the second case involves more tricky editing.

[brianegan]

Thanks for all the hard work and listening to this request!

I find myself wishing for this feature more and more... In my case, I'd love Option #2: to be able to "Unwrap" the child Widget / promote it to replace the parent. As you mention, Option #1 seems to be covered by core editor functionality.

Example

Start with something like this:

return new Card(
  child: new Container(
    color: Colors.red,
    padding: new EdgeInsets.only(
      top: 12.0, 
      bottom: 12.0,
    ),
    child: new Image.network(
      thumbnailUrl,
      scale: 1.0,
      fit: BoxFit.cover,
    ),
  ),
);

In my case, I want to remove the Container, but keep the child Image.network. The resulting code should look like this:

return new Card(
  child: new Image.network(
    thumbnailUrl,
    scale: 1.0,
    fit: BoxFit.cover,
  ),
);

And if we want to get crazy, remove the Card as well:

return new Image.network(
    thumbnailUrl,
    scale: 1.0,
    fit: BoxFit.cover,
);

I could see this working a couple of ways:

1. Place the cursor over the Image.network constructor. Hit Option-Return. See two options: Wrap with new Widget & Unwrap Widget.
2. Place the cursor over the Container widget. Hit Option-Return. See a new option: Replace with Child (or better language :)

[devoncarew]

/cc @stevemessick - some feedback about a potential 'Move up' Flutter refactoring.

[scheglov]

https://dart-review.googlesource.com/c/sdk/+/40240

[goderbauer]

Cool! Can't wait to give this a try! 🎉