diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc b/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc
index 1ed3c8285..60c3d572b 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc
@@ -1091,6 +1091,10 @@ ApplicationBase::run ()
   //  Run plugin and macro specific initializations
   autorun ();
 
+  //  Some objects we need during batch mode view generation
+  db::Manager batch_mode_manager;
+  tl::shared_ptr<LayoutView> batch_mode_view;
+
   if (mw) {
 
     for (std::vector <std::pair<file_type, std::pair<std::string, std::string> > >::const_iterator f = m_files.begin (); f != m_files.end (); ++f) {
@@ -1141,11 +1145,7 @@ ApplicationBase::run ()
 
     if (! m_layer_props_file.empty ()) {
 
-      if (m_lyp_map_all_cvs && mw->is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (m_layer_props_file)) {
-        mw->load_layer_properties (m_layer_props_file, -1, true /*all views*/, m_lyp_add_default);
-      } else {
-        mw->load_layer_properties (m_layer_props_file, true /*all views*/, m_lyp_add_default);
-      }
+      mw->load_layer_properties (m_layer_props_file, true /*all views*/, m_lyp_add_default);
 
       tl::log << "Layer properties loaded '" << m_layer_props_file << "'";
 
@@ -1165,25 +1165,79 @@ ApplicationBase::run ()
       player.replay (m_gtf_replay_rate, m_gtf_replay_stop);
     }
 
-    //  Give the plugins a change to do some last-minute initialisation and checks
-    for (tl::Registrar<lay::PluginDeclaration>::iterator cls = tl::Registrar<lay::PluginDeclaration>::begin (); cls != tl::Registrar<lay::PluginDeclaration>::end (); ++cls) {
-      lay::PluginDeclaration *pd = const_cast<lay::PluginDeclaration *> (&*cls);
-      pd->initialized (dispatcher ());
-    }
-
-    if (! m_no_gui && m_gtf_replay.empty () && m_gtf_record.empty ()) {
-      //  Show initial tip window if required
-      mw->about_to_exec ();
-    }
-
-  } else if (dispatcher ()) {
-
-    //  Give the plugins a change to do some last-minute initialisation and checks
+  } else {
+
+    //  in batch mode create at least one
+
+    for (std::vector <std::pair<file_type, std::pair<std::string, std::string> > >::const_iterator f = m_files.begin (); f != m_files.end (); ++f) {
+
+      if (f->first == layout_file || f->first == layout_file_with_tech) {
+
+        std::string filename = f->second.first;
+
+        if (batch_mode_view.get () != 0 && ! m_same_view) {
+          tl::warn << tl::sprintf (tl::to_string (tr ("Ignoring additional views in batch mode (file %s)")), filename);
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        if (! batch_mode_view) {
+          batch_mode_view.reset (create_view (batch_mode_manager));
+        }
+
+        if (f->first != layout_file_with_tech) {
+          batch_mode_view->load_layout (f->second.first, true);
+        } else {
+          batch_mode_view->load_layout (f->second.first, f->second.second, true);
+        }
+
+        //  Make the first one loaded the active one.
+        batch_mode_view->set_active_cellview_index (0);
+
+      } else if (f->first == rdb_file) {
+
+        if (! batch_mode_view) {
+          batch_mode_view.reset (create_view (batch_mode_manager));
+        }
+
+        std::unique_ptr <rdb::Database> db (new rdb::Database ());
+        db->load (f->second.first);
+        batch_mode_view->add_rdb (db.release ());
+
+      } else if (f->first == l2ndb_file) {
+
+        if (! batch_mode_view) {
+          batch_mode_view.reset (create_view (batch_mode_manager));
+        }
+
+        batch_mode_view->add_l2ndb (db::LayoutToNetlist::create_from_file (f->second.first));
+
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (! m_layer_props_file.empty () && batch_mode_view.get ()) {
+
+      batch_mode_view->load_layer_props (m_layer_props_file, m_lyp_add_default);
+
+      tl::log << "Layer properties loaded '" << m_layer_props_file << "'";
+
+      //  because the layer may carry transformations, we need to refit the cellviews.
+      batch_mode_view->zoom_fit ();
+
+    }
+
+  }
+
+  //  Give the plugins a change to do some last-minute initialisation and checks
+  if (dispatcher ()) {
     for (tl::Registrar<lay::PluginDeclaration>::iterator cls = tl::Registrar<lay::PluginDeclaration>::begin (); cls != tl::Registrar<lay::PluginDeclaration>::end (); ++cls) {
       lay::PluginDeclaration *pd = const_cast<lay::PluginDeclaration *> (&*cls);
       pd->initialized (dispatcher ());
     }
+  }
 
+  if (mw && ! m_no_gui && m_gtf_replay.empty () && m_gtf_record.empty ()) {
+    //  Show initial tip window if required
+    mw->about_to_exec ();
   }
 
   if (! m_run_macro.empty ()) {
@@ -1200,9 +1254,29 @@ ApplicationBase::run ()
 
   finish ();
 
+  batch_mode_view.reset (0);
+
   return result;
 }
 
+lay::LayoutView *
+ApplicationBase::create_view (db::Manager &manager)
+{
+  //  create a new view
+  lay::LayoutView *view = new lay::LayoutView (&manager, lay::ApplicationBase::instance ()->is_editable (), dispatcher (), 0 /*parent*/);
+
+  //  set initial attributes
+  view->set_synchronous (m_sync_mode);
+
+  int tl = 0;
+  dispatcher ()->config_get (cfg_initial_hier_depth, tl);
+  view->set_hier_levels (std::make_pair (0, tl));
+
+  view->set_current ();
+
+  return view;
+}
+
 void
 ApplicationBase::autorun ()
 {
@@ -1250,7 +1324,8 @@ dump_children (QObject *obj, int level = 0)
 void
 ApplicationBase::process_events_impl (QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlags /*flags*/, bool /*silent*/)
 {
-  //  The base class implementation does nothing ..
+  //  in the non-UI case there are no events, but we can at least schedule deferred method calls.
+  tl::DeferredMethodScheduler::execute ();
 }
 
 bool 
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layApplication.h b/src/lay/lay/layApplication.h
index 887fc42c5..b821cc7a0 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layApplication.h
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layApplication.h
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ namespace lym
   class MacroCollection;
 }
 
+namespace db
+{
+  class Manager;
+}
+
 namespace lay
 {
 
@@ -61,6 +66,7 @@ class MainWindow;
 class Dispatcher;
 class ProgressReporter;
 class ProgressBar;
+class LayoutView;
 
 /**
  *  @brief The application base class
@@ -324,6 +330,7 @@ protected:
 
 private:
   std::vector<std::string> scan_global_modules ();
+  lay::LayoutView *create_view (db::Manager &manager);
 
   enum file_type {
     layout_file,
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc b/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc
index a7e412abc..c9abd8ddc 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc
@@ -1985,38 +1985,6 @@ MainWindow::load_layer_properties (const std::string &fn, int cv_index, bool all
   }
 }
 
-bool
-MainWindow::is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (const std::string &fn)
-{
-  //  If the file contains information for a single layout but we have multiple ones,
-  //  show the dialog to determine what layout to apply the information to.
-  std::vector<lay::LayerPropertiesList> props;
-  try {
-    tl::XMLFileSource in (fn);
-    props.push_back (lay::LayerPropertiesList ());
-    props.back ().load (in);
-  } catch (...) {
-    props.clear ();
-    tl::XMLFileSource in (fn);
-    lay::LayerPropertiesList::load (in, props);
-  }
-
-  //  Collect all cv indices in the layer properties
-  std::set <int> cv;
-  for (std::vector<lay::LayerPropertiesList>::const_iterator p = props.begin (); p != props.end (); ++p) {
-    for (lay::LayerPropertiesConstIterator lp = p->begin_const_recursive (); ! lp.at_end (); ++lp) {
-      if (! lp->has_children ()) {
-        cv.insert (lp->source (true).cv_index ());
-        if (cv.size () >= 2) {
-          break;
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  return (cv.size () == 1);
-}
-
 void
 MainWindow::cm_save_layer_props ()
 {
@@ -2054,7 +2022,7 @@ MainWindow::load_layer_props_from_file (const std::string &fn)
 
   int target_cv_index = -2;
 
-  if (current_view ()->cellviews () > 1 && is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (fn)) {
+  if (current_view ()->cellviews () > 1 && lay::LayoutView::is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (fn)) {
 
     QStringList items;
     items << QString (QObject::tr ("Take it as it is"));
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.h b/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.h
index 8c40b7250..434edf347 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.h
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.h
@@ -239,13 +239,6 @@ public:
    */
   void clone_current_view ();
 
-  /**
-   *  @brief Determine whether a given layer properties file is a single-layout file
-   *
-   *  @return True, if the file contains definitions of a single layout only.
-   */
-  bool is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (const std::string &fn);
-
   /**
    *  @brief Load a layer definition file
    *
diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc
index 75b3fe78e..665a9f075 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.cc
@@ -408,7 +408,8 @@ LayoutViewBase::init (db::Manager *mgr)
   create_plugins ();
 }
 
-LayoutViewBase::~LayoutViewBase ()
+void
+LayoutViewBase::shutdown ()
 {
   //  detach all observers
   //  This is to prevent signals to partially destroyed observers that own a LayoutViewBase
@@ -457,10 +458,15 @@ LayoutViewBase::~LayoutViewBase ()
     delete *p;
   }
 
-  //  detach from the manager, so we can safely delete the manager 
+  //  detach from the manager, so we can safely delete the manager
   manager (0);
 
   stop ();
+}
+
+LayoutViewBase::~LayoutViewBase ()
+{
+  shutdown ();
 
   //  because LayoutViewBase and LayoutCanvas both control lifetimes of
   //  ruler objects for example, it is safer to explicitly delete the
@@ -2287,6 +2293,38 @@ LayoutViewBase::bookmark_view (const std::string &name)
   bookmarks_changed ();
 }
 
+bool
+LayoutViewBase::is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (const std::string &fn)
+{
+  //  If the file contains information for a single layout but we have multiple ones,
+  //  show the dialog to determine what layout to apply the information to.
+  std::vector<lay::LayerPropertiesList> props;
+  try {
+    tl::XMLFileSource in (fn);
+    props.push_back (lay::LayerPropertiesList ());
+    props.back ().load (in);
+  } catch (...) {
+    props.clear ();
+    tl::XMLFileSource in (fn);
+    lay::LayerPropertiesList::load (in, props);
+  }
+
+  //  Collect all cv indices in the layer properties
+  std::set <int> cv;
+  for (std::vector<lay::LayerPropertiesList>::const_iterator p = props.begin (); p != props.end (); ++p) {
+    for (lay::LayerPropertiesConstIterator lp = p->begin_const_recursive (); ! lp.at_end (); ++lp) {
+      if (! lp->has_children ()) {
+        cv.insert (lp->source (true).cv_index ());
+        if (cv.size () >= 2) {
+          break;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return (cv.size () == 1);
+}
+
 void 
 LayoutViewBase::load_layer_props (const std::string &fn)
 {
diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.h b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.h
index 81379af57..fadf48bb2 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.h
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layLayoutViewBase.h
@@ -799,6 +799,13 @@ public:
    */
   void load_layer_props (const std::string &fn, int cv_index, bool add_default);
 
+  /**
+   *  @brief Determine whether a given layer properties file is a single-layout file
+   *
+   *  @return True, if the file contains definitions of a single layout only.
+   */
+  static bool is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (const std::string &fn);
+
   /**
    *  @brief Bookmark the current view under the given name
    */
@@ -2836,6 +2843,7 @@ protected:
   virtual void create_plugins (const lay::PluginDeclaration *except_this = 0);
 
   void free_resources ();
+  void shutdown ();
 
   virtual lay::Color default_background_color ();
   virtual void do_set_background_color (lay::Color color, lay::Color contrast);
diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.cc b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.cc
index 3fc597c20..d782656a9 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.cc
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.cc
@@ -488,7 +488,8 @@ private:
 //  ViewObjectWidget implementation
 
 ViewObjectUI::ViewObjectUI ()
-  : m_view_objects_dismissed (false),
+  : mp_widget (0),
+    m_view_objects_dismissed (false),
     m_needs_update_static (false),
     m_needs_update_bg (false),
     mp_active_service (0),
@@ -502,16 +503,6 @@ ViewObjectUI::ViewObjectUI ()
     m_widget_height (0),
     m_image_updated (false)
 {
-#if defined(HAVE_QT)
-  if (lay::has_gui ()) {
-    mp_widget = new ViewObjectQWidget (this);
-    mp_widget->setMouseTracking (true);
-    mp_widget->setAcceptDrops (true);
-  } else {
-    mp_widget = 0;
-  }
-#endif
-
   m_objects.changed ().add (this, &ViewObjectUI::objects_changed);
 }
 
@@ -527,6 +518,20 @@ ViewObjectUI::~ViewObjectUI ()
   }
 }
 
+#if defined(HAVE_QT)
+void
+ViewObjectUI::init_ui (QWidget *parent)
+{
+  //  we rely on the parent to delete the UI widget
+  tl_assert (parent != 0);
+  tl_assert (mp_widget == 0);
+
+  mp_widget = new ViewObjectQWidget (this);
+  mp_widget->setMouseTracking (true);
+  mp_widget->setAcceptDrops (true);
+}
+#endif
+
 void
 ViewObjectUI::register_service (lay::ViewService *svc)
 {
diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.h b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.h
index 242558d00..7f3e14694 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.h
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layViewObject.h
@@ -589,6 +589,13 @@ public:
    */
   ~ViewObjectUI ();
 
+#if defined(HAVE_QT)
+  /**
+   *  @brief Initializes the UI components
+   */
+  void init_ui (QWidget *parent);
+#endif
+
   /**
    *  @brief Cancel all drag operations
    */
diff --git a/src/layview/layview/layLayoutView_qt.cc b/src/layview/layview/layLayoutView_qt.cc
index 4a431e518..4727fedf3 100644
--- a/src/layview/layview/layLayoutView_qt.cc
+++ b/src/layview/layview/layLayoutView_qt.cc
@@ -289,7 +289,8 @@ LayoutView::init_ui (QWidget *parent, const char *name)
 
     mp_widget = new LayoutViewFrame (parent, this);
     mp_widget->setObjectName (QString::fromUtf8 (name));
-    canvas ()->widget ()->setParent (mp_widget);
+
+    canvas ()->init_ui (mp_widget);
 
     mp_connector = new LayoutViewSignalConnector (mp_widget, this);
 
@@ -415,6 +416,9 @@ LayoutView::~LayoutView ()
     ms_current = 0;
   }
 
+  //  release all components and plugins before we delete the user interface
+  shutdown ();
+
   if (mp_control_frame) {
     delete mp_control_frame;
   }
@@ -443,6 +447,11 @@ LayoutView::~LayoutView ()
   }
   mp_bookmarks_frame = 0;
   mp_bookmarks_view = 0;
+
+  if (mp_widget) {
+    delete mp_widget;
+    mp_widget = 0;
+  }
 }
 
 void