Component Body

The root-level tag of every component is <aura:component>. Every component inherits the body attribute from <aura:component>.

The <aura:component> tag can contain tags, such as <aura:attribute>, <aura:registerEvent>, <aura:handler>, <aura:set>, and so on. Any free markup that is not enclosed in one of the tags allowed in a component is assumed to be part of the body and is set in the body attribute.

The body attribute has type Aura.Component[]. It can be an array of one component, or an empty array, but it’s always an array.

In a component, use “v” to access the collection of attributes. For example, {!v.body} outputs the body of the component.

Setting the Body Content

To set the body attribute in a component, add free markup within the <aura:component> tag. For example:

1<aura:component>
2    <!--START BODY-->
3    <div>Body part</div>
4    <lightning:button label="Push Me" onclick="{!c.doSomething}"/>
5    <!--END BODY-->
6</aura:component>

To set the value of an inherited attribute, use the <aura:set> tag. Setting the body content is equivalent to wrapping that free markup inside <aura:set attribute="body">. Since the body attribute has this special behavior, you can omit <aura:set attribute="body">.

The previous sample is a shortcut for this markup. We recommend the less verbose syntax in the previous sample.

1<aura:component>
2    <aura:set attribute="body">
3        <!--START BODY-->
4        <div>Body part</div>
5        <lightning:button label="Push Me" onclick="{!c.doSomething}"/>
6        <!--END BODY-->
7    </aura:set>
8</aura:component>

The same logic applies when you use any component that has a body attribute, not just <aura:component>. For example:

1<lightning:tabset>
2    <lightning:tab label="Tab 1">
3        Hello world!
4    </lightning:tab>
5</lightning:tabset>

This is a shortcut for:

1<lightning:tabset>
2    <lightning:tab label="Tab 1">
3        <aura:set attribute="body">
4            Hello World!
5        </aura:set>
6    </lightning:tab>
7</lightning:tabset>

Accessing the Component Body

To access a component body in JavaScript, use component.get("v.body").

See Also