--- a/openide.windows/apichanges.xml	
+++ a/openide.windows/apichanges.xml	
@@ -50,6 +50,20 @@ 
 <apidef name="winsys">Window System API</apidef>
 </apidefs>
 <changes>
+<change id="topcomponent.subcomponents">
+    <api name="winsys"/>
+    <summary>Added method TopComponent.getSubComponents.</summary>
+    <version major="6" minor="52"/>
+    <date day="6" month="3" year="2012"/>
+    <author login="saubrecht"/>
+    <compatibility addition="yes" source="compatible" semantic="compatible" deprecation="no" deletion="no" modification="no"/>
+    <description>
+        <p>The new method can be used to access for example inner tabs in a
+        multiview window.</code></p>
+    </description>
+    <class package="org.openide.windows" name="TopComponent"/>
+    <issue number="209051"/>
+</change>
 <change id="topcomponent.busy">
     <api name="winsys"/>
     <summary>Added method TopComponent.makeBusy(boolean).</summary>
--- a/openide.windows/manifest.mf	
+++ a/openide.windows/manifest.mf	
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ 
 Manifest-Version: 1.0
 OpenIDE-Module: org.openide.windows
-OpenIDE-Module-Specification-Version: 6.51
+OpenIDE-Module-Specification-Version: 6.52
 OpenIDE-Module-Localizing-Bundle: org/openide/windows/Bundle.properties
 AutoUpdate-Essential-Module: true
 
--- a/openide.windows/src/org/openide/windows/TopComponent.java	
+++ a/openide.windows/src/org/openide/windows/TopComponent.java	
@@ -80,13 +80,7 @@ 
 import javax.accessibility.Accessible;
 import javax.accessibility.AccessibleContext;
 import javax.accessibility.AccessibleRole;
-import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
-import javax.swing.Action;
-import javax.swing.ActionMap;
-import javax.swing.JComponent;
-import javax.swing.KeyStroke;
-import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
-import javax.swing.Timer;
+import javax.swing.*;
 import javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicHTML;
 import javax.swing.text.Keymap;
 import org.openide.awt.ActionID;
@@ -1033,7 +1027,7 @@ 
     public String getHtmlDisplayName() {
         return htmlDisplayName;
     }
-    
+
 
     /** Sets toolTip for this <code>TopComponent</code>, adds notification
      * about the change to its <code>WindowManager.TopComponentManager</code>. */
@@ -1394,6 +1388,17 @@ 
         this.nodeName = nodeName;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Retrieves sub-components this TopComponent contains.
+     * 
+     * @return Array of internal sub-components. The default implementation
+     * returns null.
+     * @since 6.52
+     */
+    public SubComponent[] getSubComponents() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
     /** Each top component that wishes to be cloned should implement
     * this interface, so CloneAction can check it and call the cloneComponent
     * method.
@@ -1539,6 +1544,62 @@ 
         public void removePropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener l);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Representation of a visual sub-component displayed in a TopComponent,
+     * for example sub-tabs in a multiview window.
+     *
+     * @see #getSubComponents()
+     * @since 6.52
+     */
+    public static abstract class SubComponent {
+        private final String displayName;
+        private final String description;
+        private boolean active;
+
+        /**
+         * C'tor
+         * @param displayName Subcomponent's display name.
+         * @param active True if the given sub-component is currently active,
+         * e.g. multiview sub-tab is selected.
+         */
+        public SubComponent( String displayName, boolean active ) {
+            this( displayName, null, active );
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * C'tor
+         * @param displayName Subcomponent's display name.
+         * @param description Short description to show in a tooltip.
+         * @param active True if the given sub-component is currently active,
+         * e.g. multiview sub-tab is selected.
+         */
+        public SubComponent( String displayName, String description, boolean active ) {
+            this.displayName = displayName;
+            this.description = description;
+            this.active = active;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * @return True if this sub-component is the active/selected one.
+         */
+        public final boolean isActive() {
+            return active;
+        }
+
+        public final String getDescription() {
+            return description;
+        }
+
+        public final String getDisplayName() {
+            return displayName;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Make this sub-component the active/selected one.
+         */
+        public abstract void activate();
+    }
+
     private class AttentionGetter implements ActionListener {
         Timer timer = null;