How can I replace a GWT widget in a Panel?

Question

I have a Composite whose main widget has two children, thus:

public MyComposite() {
    child1 = new FlowPanel();
    child1.getElement().setId("child1");

    child2 = new FlowPanel();
    child2.getElement().setId("child2");

    panel = new FlowPanel();
    panel.add(child1);
    panel.add(child2);
    initWidget(panel);
}

Some time after construction of MyComposite, I want to swap child1 out, replacing it with another widget, new-child1.

I could perhaps remove child1 by calling panel.remove(child1), and then add my new widget by calling panel.add(new-child1); but this would cause child2 to be rendered first, wouldn't it?

So, how can I replace child1 with new-child1 without changing the order of panel's children?

Answer 1

Try insert() instead of add().

Unfortunately, you can't call insert() since it's protected, so you need to extend FlowPanel:

public class UsefulFlowPanel extends FlowPanel {
    public void add (int index, Widget child) {
        insert (child, getElement(), index, true);
    }
}

should work.