diff --git a/prody/atomic/__init__.py b/prody/atomic/__init__.py
index 4f8f5efe7..24a231fcb 100644
--- a/prody/atomic/__init__.py
+++ b/prody/atomic/__init__.py
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@
 atomic.AtomMap = AtomMap
 atomic.AtomGroup = AtomGroup
 atomic.Selection = Selection
+atomic.HierView = HierView
 
 atomgroup.isReserved = isReserved
 atomgroup.HierView = HierView
diff --git a/prody/atomic/atomic.py b/prody/atomic/atomic.py
index b4a6700f4..2a6d2d9e6 100644
--- a/prody/atomic/atomic.py
+++ b/prody/atomic/atomic.py
@@ -256,6 +256,26 @@ def getSequence(self, **kwargs):
         
         return seq
 
+    def getHierView(self, **kwargs):
+        """Returns a hierarchical view of the atom selection."""
+
+        return HierView(self, **kwargs)
+
+    def numSegments(self):
+        """Returns number of segments."""
+
+        return self.getHierView().numSegments()
+
+    def numChains(self):
+        """Returns number of chains."""
+
+        return self.getHierView().numChains()
+
+    def numResidues(self):
+        """Returns number of residues."""
+
+        return self.getHierView().numResidues()
+
     def toTEMPyAtoms(self):
         """Returns a :class:`TEMPy.protein.prot_rep_biopy.Atom` or list of them as appropriate"""
         try:
@@ -277,12 +297,6 @@ def toTEMPyStructure(self):
 
         return BioPy_Structure(self.toTEMPyAtoms())
 
-    def numResidues(self):
-        """Returns number of residues."""
-
-        return len(set(self._getResindices()))
-
-
     def toBioPythonStructure(self, header=None, **kwargs):
         """Returns a :class:`Bio.PDB.Structure` object