How do I remove a require_once admin panel from the parent theme from the child theme functions.php?

In the parent theme, the following is at the bottom of the functions.php file.

require_once(TEMPLATEPATH . '/admin/admin-menu.php');

In the child theme’s function.php, this code will include the child admin panel.

require_once(STYLESHEETPATH . '/admin/admin-menu.php');

As you can see, I shouldn’t use both files b/c the bottom file includes get_stylesheet_directory_uri() instead of get_template_directory_uri() for certain localized files (js, css). Thus, I need to remove the parent file from loading

I believe I need to use the remove_action hook, but I’m not sure how to do this right. Can’t find a good answer on Google either.

I started writing the following in the functions.php file in my child theme, but I don’t know how to write it properly.

function remove_parent_admin_panel {
   remove_action('remove_panel', '[WHAT-GOES-HERE?]');
}

Then I guess I need to use a add_action hook to add the above function to remove the parent admin panel.

Should I wrap the parent require_once with a function statement? Am I on the right track?

For cases where you want to require/include PHP files, but still allow child themes to replace those PHP files outright, then you should use the locate_template function.

Example: Parent does this:

locate_template( 'admin/file.php', true );

This finds the admin/file.php file in either the child or the parent theme, then does a require on it (that’s what the true is for).

So to replace the file in the child, you just replace the file in the child. Simple. Easy.

Note: The method defaults to using require_once. If you just want to require only, then pass a third parameter of false.