diff --git a/src/edt/edt/edtMainService.cc b/src/edt/edt/edtMainService.cc
index 461b3c046..f08334d7c 100644
--- a/src/edt/edt/edtMainService.cc
+++ b/src/edt/edt/edtMainService.cc
@@ -375,7 +375,14 @@ MainService::cm_ascend ()
   new_selections.reserve (edt_services.size ());
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
     new_selections.push_back (std::vector<lay::ObjectInstPath> ());
-    new_selections.back ().insert (new_selections.back ().end (), (*es)->selection ().begin (), (*es)->selection ().end ());
+    size_t n = 0;
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator i = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! i.at_end (); ++i) {
+      ++n;
+    }
+    new_selections.back ().reserve (n);
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator i = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! i.at_end (); ++i) {
+      new_selections.back ().push_back (*i);
+    }
   }
 
   //  this will clear the selection:
@@ -436,8 +443,7 @@ MainService::cm_flatten_insts ()
   std::vector<edt::Service *> edt_services = view ()->get_plugins <edt::Service> ();
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-    const edt::Service::objects &sel = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = sel.begin (); r != sel.end (); ++r) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator r = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
 
       const lay::CellView &cv = view ()->cellview (r->cv_index ());
       if (cv.is_valid ()) {
@@ -491,12 +497,10 @@ MainService::cm_move_hier_up ()
   std::vector<edt::Service *> edt_services = view ()->get_plugins <edt::Service> ();
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-
     std::vector<lay::ObjectInstPath> new_selection;
-    new_selection.reserve (selection.size ());
+    new_selection.reserve ((*es)->selection_size ());
 
-    for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = selection.begin (); r != selection.end (); ++r) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator r = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
 
       const lay::CellView &cv = view ()->cellview (r->cv_index ());
       if (cv.is_valid ()) {
@@ -728,8 +732,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_cell_variants ()
   //  TODO: this limitation is not really necessary, but makes the code somewhat simpler
   int cv_index = -1;
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = selection.begin (); r != selection.end (); ++r) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator r = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
       if (cv_index < 0) {
         cv_index = r->cv_index ();
       } else if (cv_index != int (r->cv_index ())) {
@@ -752,8 +755,15 @@ MainService::cm_make_cell_variants ()
   }
 
   std::vector<lay::ObjectInstPath> new_selection;
+  size_t n = 0;
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    new_selection.insert (new_selection.end (), (*es)->selection ().begin (), (*es)->selection ().end ());
+    n += (*es)->selection_size ();
+  }
+  new_selection.reserve (n);
+  for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
+      new_selection.push_back (*s);
+    }
   }
 
   size_t num_sel = new_selection.size ();
@@ -913,7 +923,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_cell_variants ()
   //  Install the new selection
   size_t i0 = 0;
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    size_t n = (*es)->selection ().size ();
+    size_t n = (*es)->selection_size ();
     if (n + i0 <= new_selection.size ()) {
       (*es)->set_selection (new_selection.begin () + i0, new_selection.begin () + i0 + n);
     }
@@ -941,8 +951,7 @@ MainService::cm_resolve_arefs ()
 
   int cv_index = -1;
 
-  const edt::Service::objects &selection = inst_service->selection ();
-  for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = selection.begin (); r != selection.end (); ++r) {
+  for (EditableSelectionIterator r = inst_service->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
     if (r->is_cell_inst () && r->back ().inst_ptr.size () > 1) {
       if (cv_index < 0) {
         cv_index = r->cv_index ();
@@ -1023,8 +1032,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_cell ()
   int cv_index = -1;
   std::vector<edt::Service *> edt_services = view ()->get_plugins <edt::Service> ();
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection () ;
-    for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = selection.begin (); r != selection.end (); ++r) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator r = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
       if (cv_index < 0) {
         cv_index = r->cv_index ();
       } else if (cv_index != int (r->cv_index ())) {
@@ -1048,8 +1056,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_cell ()
     db::Box selection_bbox;
     db::box_convert<db::CellInst> bc (cv->layout ());
     for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-      const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection () ;
-      for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = selection.begin (); r != selection.end (); ++r) {
+      for (EditableSelectionIterator r = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
         if (r->is_cell_inst ()) {
           selection_bbox += db::ICplxTrans (r->trans ()) * r->back ().bbox (bc);
         } else {
@@ -1083,8 +1090,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_cell ()
 
     for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-      const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection () ;
-      for (edt::Service::objects::const_iterator r = selection.begin (); r != selection.end (); ++r) {
+      for (EditableSelectionIterator r = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! r.at_end (); ++r) {
 
         if (r->is_cell_inst ()) {
 
@@ -1145,8 +1151,7 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_cell ()
     //  Do the conversion
     for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-      const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection () ;
-      for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+      for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
         const lay::CellView &cv = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ());
         db::cell_index_type ci = s->cell_index_tot ();
@@ -1216,9 +1221,8 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_pcell ()
   //  check whether the selection contains instances and reject it in that case
   size_t num_selected = 0;
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    num_selected += selection.size ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    num_selected += (*es)->selection_size ();
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       if (s->is_cell_inst ()) {
         throw tl::Exception (tl::to_string (tr ("Selection contains instances - they cannot be converted to PCells.")));
       }
@@ -1240,8 +1244,7 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_pcell ()
         const db::PCellDeclaration *pc_decl = lib->layout ().pcell_declaration (pc->second);
         size_t n = 1000; // 1000 tries max.
         for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); n > 0 && pc_decl && es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-          const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-          for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); n > 0 && pc_decl && s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+          for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); n > 0 && pc_decl && ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
             const lay::CellView &cv = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ());
             if (pc_decl->can_create_from_shape (cv->layout (), s->shape (), s->layer ())) {
               --n;
@@ -1306,7 +1309,7 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_pcell ()
       manager ()->transaction (tl::to_string (tr ("Convert to PCell")));
     }
 
-    std::vector<edt::Service::obj_iterator> to_delete;
+    std::vector<EditableSelectionIterator::pointer> to_delete;
     std::vector<lay::ObjectInstPath> new_selection;
 
     bool any_non_converted = false;
@@ -1318,8 +1321,7 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_pcell ()
       //  convert the shapes which can be converted
       for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-        const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-        for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+        for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
           const lay::CellView &cv = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ());
 
@@ -1343,7 +1345,7 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_pcell ()
               new_selection.back ().add_path (db::InstElement (cell_inst));
 
               //  mark the shape for delete (later)
-              to_delete.push_back (s);
+              to_delete.push_back (s.operator-> ());
 
               any_converted = true;
 
@@ -1366,7 +1368,7 @@ MainService::cm_convert_to_pcell ()
     }
 
     //  Delete the shapes which have been converted
-    for (std::vector<edt::Service::obj_iterator>::const_iterator td = to_delete.begin (); td != to_delete.end (); ++td) {
+    for (std::vector<EditableSelectionIterator::pointer>::const_iterator td = to_delete.begin (); td != to_delete.end (); ++td) {
       db::Cell &cell = view ()->cellview ((*td)->cv_index ())->layout ().cell ((*td)->cell_index ());
       if (cell.shapes ((*td)->layer ()).is_valid ((*td)->shape ())) {
         cell.shapes ((*td)->layer ()).erase_shape ((*td)->shape ());
@@ -1418,8 +1420,7 @@ void MainService::cm_area_perimeter ()
   //  get (common) cellview index of the primary selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       if (s->is_cell_inst ()) {
         continue;
@@ -1525,8 +1526,7 @@ MainService::cm_round_corners ()
   //  get (common) cellview index of the primary selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       if (! s->is_cell_inst () && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
 
@@ -1600,8 +1600,7 @@ MainService::cm_round_corners ()
 
   //  Delete the current selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       if (! s->is_cell_inst () && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
         db::Cell &cell = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ())->layout ().cell (s->cell_index ());
         if (cell.shapes (s->layer ()).is_valid (s->shape ())) {
@@ -1661,8 +1660,7 @@ MainService::cm_size ()
 
   //  get (common) cellview index of the primary selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       if (! s->is_cell_inst () && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
 
@@ -1732,8 +1730,7 @@ MainService::cm_size ()
 
   //  Delete the current selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       if (! s->is_cell_inst () && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
         db::Cell &cell = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ())->layout ().cell (s->cell_index ());
         if (cell.shapes (s->layer ()).is_valid (s->shape ())) {
@@ -1789,8 +1786,7 @@ MainService::boolean_op (int mode)
 
   //  get (common) cellview index of the primary selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       if (s->seq () == 0 && ! s->is_cell_inst () && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
 
@@ -1824,8 +1820,7 @@ MainService::boolean_op (int mode)
 
   //  get the secondary selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       if (s->seq () > 0 && ! s->is_cell_inst () && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
 
@@ -1862,8 +1857,7 @@ MainService::boolean_op (int mode)
   //  Let's see whether this heuristics is more accepted.
 
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       if (! s->is_cell_inst () && int (s->layer ()) == layer_index && (s->shape ().is_polygon () || s->shape ().is_path () || s->shape ().is_box ())) {
         db::Cell &cell = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ())->layout ().cell (s->cell_index ());
         if (cell.shapes (s->layer ()).is_valid (s->shape ())) {
@@ -1998,8 +1992,7 @@ MainService::cm_align ()
 
   //  get (common) bbox index of the primary selection
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       if (s->seq () == 0) {
 
@@ -2029,13 +2022,11 @@ MainService::cm_align ()
     //  do the alignment
     for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-      const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-
       //  create a transformation vector that describes each shape's transformation
       std::vector <db::DCplxTrans> tv;
-      tv.reserve (selection.size ());
+      tv.reserve ((*es)->selection_size ());
 
-      for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+      for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
         db::DVector v;
 
@@ -2102,8 +2093,7 @@ MainService::cm_distribute ()
   //  count the items
   size_t n = 0;
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       ++n;
     }
   }
@@ -2125,8 +2115,7 @@ MainService::cm_distribute ()
 
       objects_for_service.push_back (std::make_pair (i, i));
 
-      const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-      for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+      for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
         const db::Layout &layout = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ())->layout ();
         db::CplxTrans tr = db::CplxTrans (layout.dbu ()) * s->trans ();
@@ -2208,8 +2197,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_array ()
   std::vector<edt::Service *> edt_services = view ()->get_plugins <edt::Service> ();
 
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       ++n;
     }
   }
@@ -2243,8 +2231,7 @@ MainService::cm_make_array ()
 
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
 
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
 
       const lay::CellView &cv = view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ());
       if (! cv.is_valid ()) {
@@ -2541,8 +2528,7 @@ MainService::check_no_guiding_shapes ()
 {
   std::vector<edt::Service *> edt_services = view ()->get_plugins <edt::Service> ();
   for (std::vector<edt::Service *>::const_iterator es = edt_services.begin (); es != edt_services.end (); ++es) {
-    const edt::Service::objects &selection = (*es)->selection ();
-    for (edt::Service::obj_iterator s = selection.begin (); s != selection.end (); ++s) {
+    for (EditableSelectionIterator s = (*es)->begin_selection (); ! s.at_end (); ++s) {
       if (! s->is_cell_inst ()) {
         if (s->layer () == view ()->cellview (s->cv_index ())->layout ().guiding_shape_layer ()) {
           throw tl::Exception (tl::to_string (tr ("This function cannot be applied to PCell guiding shapes")));