diff --git a/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.cc b/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.cc
index c5989b5bb..40835f186 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.cc
@@ -2282,7 +2282,7 @@ private:
 // --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //  LayoutQueryIterator implementation
 
-LayoutQueryIterator::LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *parent_eval, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress)
+LayoutQueryIterator::LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, db::Layout *layout, db::Cell *cell, tl::Eval *parent_eval, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress)
   : mp_q (const_cast<db::LayoutQuery *> (&q)), mp_layout (layout), m_eval (parent_eval), m_layout_ctx (layout, true /*can modify*/), mp_progress (progress), m_initialized (false)
 {
   m_eval.set_ctx_handler (&m_layout_ctx);
@@ -2290,13 +2290,16 @@ LayoutQueryIterator::LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, db::Layout *layo
   for (unsigned int i = 0; i < mp_q->properties (); ++i) {
     m_eval.define_function (mp_q->property_name (i), new FilterStateFunction (i, &m_state));
   }
+  if (cell && cell->layout ()) {
+    m_eval.set_var ("_", cell->layout ()->cell_name (cell->cell_index ()));
+  }
 
   //  Avoid update() calls while iterating in modifying mode
   mp_layout->update ();
   mp_layout->start_changes ();
 }
 
-LayoutQueryIterator::LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *parent_eval, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress)
+LayoutQueryIterator::LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout *layout, const Cell *cell, tl::Eval *parent_eval, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress)
   : mp_q (const_cast<db::LayoutQuery *> (&q)), mp_layout (const_cast <db::Layout *> (layout)), m_eval (parent_eval), m_layout_ctx (layout), mp_progress (progress), m_initialized (false)
 {
   //  TODO: check whether the query is a modifying one (with .. do, delete)
@@ -2306,6 +2309,9 @@ LayoutQueryIterator::LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout
   for (unsigned int i = 0; i < mp_q->properties (); ++i) {
     m_eval.define_function (mp_q->property_name (i), new FilterStateFunction (i, &m_state));
   }
+  if (cell && cell->layout ()) {
+    m_eval.set_var ("_", cell->layout ()->cell_name (cell->cell_index ()));
+  }
 
   //  Avoid update() calls while iterating in modifying mode
   mp_layout->start_changes ();
@@ -2850,9 +2856,9 @@ LayoutQuery::dump () const
 }
 
 void
-LayoutQuery::execute (db::Layout &layout, tl::Eval *context)
+LayoutQuery::execute (db::Layout &layout, db::Cell *cell, tl::Eval *context)
 {
-  LayoutQueryIterator iq (*this, &layout, context);
+  LayoutQueryIterator iq (*this, &layout, cell, context);
   while (! iq.at_end ()) {
     ++iq;
   }
diff --git a/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.h b/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.h
index a7ad97258..d67513e8c 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.h
+++ b/src/db/db/dbLayoutQuery.h
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ public:
    *
    *  The context provides a way to define variables and functions.
    */
-  void execute (db::Layout &layout, tl::Eval *context = 0);
+  void execute (db::Layout &layout, db::Cell *cell = 0, tl::Eval *context = 0);
   
   /**
    *  @brief A dump method (for debugging)
@@ -578,7 +578,7 @@ public:
    *  @param q The query that this iterator walks over
    *  @param layout The layout to which the query is applied
    */
-  LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *parent_eval = 0, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress = 0);
+  LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, db::Layout *layout, db::Cell *cell = 0, tl::Eval *parent_eval = 0, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress = 0);
 
   /**
    *  @brief Constructor
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ public:
    *  @param q The query that this iterator walks over
    *  @param layout The layout to which the query is applied
    */
-  LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *parent_eval = 0, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress = 0);
+  LayoutQueryIterator (const LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout *layout, const db::Cell *cell = 0, tl::Eval *parent_eval = 0, tl::AbsoluteProgress *progress = 0);
 
   /**
    *  @brief Destructor
diff --git a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayoutQuery.cc b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayoutQuery.cc
index cf4f00d7d..d760b0f31 100644
--- a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayoutQuery.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayoutQuery.cc
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ struct LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper
   typedef void difference_type;
   typedef void pointer;
 
-  LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper (const db::LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *eval)
-    : mp_iter (new db::LayoutQueryIterator (q, layout, eval))
+  LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper (const db::LayoutQuery &q, const db::Layout *layout, const db::Cell *cell, tl::Eval *eval)
+    : mp_iter (new db::LayoutQueryIterator (q, layout, cell, eval))
   {
     //  .. nothing yet ..
   }
@@ -77,9 +77,14 @@ private:
   tl::shared_ptr<db::LayoutQueryIterator> mp_iter;
 };
 
-static LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper iterate (const db::LayoutQuery *q, const db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *eval)
+static LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper iterate1 (const db::LayoutQuery *q, const db::Layout *layout, tl::Eval *eval)
 {
-  return LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper (*q, layout, eval);
+  return LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper (*q, layout, 0, eval);
+}
+
+static LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper iterate2 (const db::LayoutQuery *q, const db::Layout *layout, const db::Cell *cell, tl::Eval *eval)
+{
+  return LayoutQueryIteratorWrapper (*q, layout, cell, eval);
 }
 
 static tl::Variant iter_get (db::LayoutQueryIterator *iter, const std::string &name)
@@ -158,6 +163,16 @@ Class<db::LayoutQueryIterator> decl_LayoutQueryIterator ("db", "LayoutQueryItera
   "The LayoutQueryIterator class has been introduced in version 0.25."
 );
 
+static void execute1 (db::LayoutQuery *q, db::Layout &layout, tl::Eval *context)
+{
+  q->execute (layout, 0, context);
+}
+
+static void execute2 (db::LayoutQuery *q, db::Layout &layout, db::Cell *cell, tl::Eval *context)
+{
+  q->execute (layout, cell, context);
+}
+
 Class<db::LayoutQuery> decl_LayoutQuery ("db", "LayoutQuery",
   gsi::constructor ("new", &new_query, gsi::arg ("query"),
     "@brief Creates a new query object from the given query string\n"
@@ -168,7 +183,7 @@ Class<db::LayoutQuery> decl_LayoutQuery ("db", "LayoutQuery",
     "This method allows detection of the properties available. Within the query, all of these "
     "properties can be obtained from the query iterator using \\LayoutQueryIterator#get.\n"
   ) +
-  gsi::method ("execute", &db::LayoutQuery::execute, gsi::arg("layout"), gsi::arg ("context", (tl::Eval *) 0, "nil"),
+  gsi::method_ext ("execute", &execute1, gsi::arg("layout"), gsi::arg ("context", (tl::Eval *) 0, "nil"),
     "@brief Executes the query\n"
     "\n"
     "This method can be used to execute \"active\" queries such\n"
@@ -179,13 +194,27 @@ Class<db::LayoutQuery> decl_LayoutQuery ("db", "LayoutQuery",
     "The context argument allows supplying an expression execution context. This context can be used for "
     "example to supply variables for the execution. It has been added in version 0.26.\n"
   ) +
-  gsi::iterator_ext ("each", &iterate, gsi::arg ("layout"), gsi::arg ("context", (tl::Eval *) 0, "nil"),
+  gsi::method_ext ("execute", &execute2, gsi::arg("layout"), gsi::arg("cell"), gsi::arg ("context", (tl::Eval *) 0, "nil"),
+    "@brief Executes the query\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This version allows specifying a context cell. This cell can be used as a default cell for cell expressions.\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This variant has been introduced in version 0.30."
+  ) +
+  gsi::iterator_ext ("each", &iterate1, gsi::arg ("layout"), gsi::arg ("context", (tl::Eval *) 0, "nil"),
     "@brief Executes the query and delivered the results iteratively.\n"
     "The argument to the block is a \\LayoutQueryIterator object which can be "
     "asked for specific results.\n"
     "\n"
     "The context argument allows supplying an expression execution context. This context can be used for "
     "example to supply variables for the execution. It has been added in version 0.26.\n"
+  ) +
+  gsi::iterator_ext ("each", &iterate2, gsi::arg ("layout"), gsi::arg("cell"), gsi::arg ("context", (tl::Eval *) 0, "nil"),
+    "@brief Executes the query and delivered the results iteratively.\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This version allows specifying a context cell. This cell can be used as a default cell for cell expressions.\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This variant has been introduced in version 0.30."
   ),
   "@brief A layout query\n"
   "Layout queries are the backbone of the \"Search & replace\" feature. Layout queries allow retrieval of "
diff --git a/src/db/unit_tests/dbLayoutQueryTests.cc b/src/db/unit_tests/dbLayoutQueryTests.cc
index 79b059a57..a9ddb1102 100644
--- a/src/db/unit_tests/dbLayoutQueryTests.cc
+++ b/src/db/unit_tests/dbLayoutQueryTests.cc
@@ -515,6 +515,14 @@ TEST(1)
     EXPECT_EQ (s, "c1,c4,c5x");
   }
 
+  {
+    //  $_ is a placeholder for the current cell
+    db::LayoutQuery q ("$_.*");
+    db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (q, &g, &g.cell (g.cell_by_name ("c4").second));
+    std::string s = q2s_var (iq, "cell_name");
+    EXPECT_EQ (s, "c1,c3"); // child cells of "c4"
+  }
+
   {
     //  Another way of saying "c2x.*"
     db::LayoutQuery q ("*.$(cell_name=='c2x'?'*':'')");
diff --git a/src/doc/doc/about/custom_queries.xml b/src/doc/doc/about/custom_queries.xml
index 605c16457..62eec312e 100644
--- a/src/doc/doc/about/custom_queries.xml
+++ b/src/doc/doc/about/custom_queries.xml
@@ -281,6 +281,14 @@ select cell_name of cells TOP.. sorted by cell_name unique
 cells *.$("A"+cell_name)
 </pre>
 
+  <p>
+  The "$_" placeholder is the name of the cell selected in the view as the current cell.
+  The following selects all child cells of the current cell:
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+cells $_.*
+</pre>
 
   <h2>Building queries: instances</h2>
 
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/laySearchReplaceDialog.cc b/src/lay/lay/laySearchReplaceDialog.cc
index 2e764a753..351b9aebd 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/laySearchReplaceDialog.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/laySearchReplaceDialog.cc
@@ -1136,7 +1136,7 @@ BEGIN_PROTECTED
   progress.set_unit (100000);
   progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
 
   if (tl::verbosity () >= 10) {
     tl::log << tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("Running query: ")) << m_last_query;
@@ -1198,7 +1198,7 @@ BEGIN_PROTECTED
   progress.set_unit (100000);
   progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
 
   if (tl::verbosity () >= 10) {
     tl::log << tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("Running query: ")) << m_last_query;
@@ -1246,7 +1246,7 @@ BEGIN_PROTECTED
   progress.set_unit (100000);
   progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
 
   if (tl::verbosity () >= 10) {
     tl::log << tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("Running query: ")) << m_last_query;
@@ -1317,7 +1317,7 @@ BEGIN_PROTECTED
   progress.set_unit (100000);
   progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
 
   if (tl::verbosity () >= 10) {
     tl::log << tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("Running query: ")) << m_last_query;
@@ -1371,7 +1371,7 @@ BEGIN_PROTECTED
   progress.set_unit (100000);
   progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+  db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
 
   if (tl::verbosity () >= 10) {
     tl::log << tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("Running query: ")) << m_last_query;
@@ -1668,7 +1668,7 @@ SearchReplaceDialog::issue_query (const std::string &q, const std::set<size_t> *
     progress.set_unit (100000);
     progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-    db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+    db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
     while (! iq.at_end ()) {
       ++iq;
     }
@@ -1690,7 +1690,7 @@ SearchReplaceDialog::issue_query (const std::string &q, const std::set<size_t> *
     progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
     size_t n = 0;
-    for (db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress); ! iq.at_end (); ++n) {
+    for (db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress); ! iq.at_end (); ++n) {
       iq.next (selected_items->find (n) == selected_items->end ());
     }
 
@@ -1767,7 +1767,7 @@ SearchReplaceDialog::update_results (const std::string &q)
     progress.set_unit (100000);
     progress.set_format ("Processing ..");
 
-    db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), 0, &progress);
+    db::LayoutQueryIterator iq (lq, &cv->layout (), cv.cell (), 0, &progress);
 
     if (tl::verbosity () >= 10) {
       tl::log << tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("Running query: ")) << q;
diff --git a/src/layui/layui/layLayoutStatisticsForm.cc b/src/layui/layui/layLayoutStatisticsForm.cc
index 583634840..6a4ca1d04 100644
--- a/src/layui/layui/layLayoutStatisticsForm.cc
+++ b/src/layui/layui/layLayoutStatisticsForm.cc
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ StatisticsTemplateProcessor::process (const QDomElement &element, tl::Eval &eval
 
       db::LayoutQuery q (tl::to_string (element.attribute (template_name_expr, template_value_empty_query)));
 
-      db::LayoutQueryIterator qi (q, mp_layout, &eval);
+      db::LayoutQueryIterator qi (q, mp_layout, 0, &eval);
 
       process_child_nodes (begin_node, qi.eval (), writer);
 
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlExpression.cc b/src/tl/tl/tlExpression.cc
index 679a85aaf..bb42ad65b 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlExpression.cc
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlExpression.cc
@@ -3692,10 +3692,41 @@ scan_angle_bracket (tl::Extractor &ex, const char *term, std::string &s)
   ex.expect (term);
 }
 
+static bool
+get_match_group (tl::Extractor &ex, int &group)
+{
+  tl::Extractor ex1 = ex;
+  group = 0;
+  if (ex1.test ("$") && isdigit (*ex1)) {
+    ex1.read (group);
+    ex = ex1;
+    return true;
+  } else {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+static bool
+get_variable_name (tl::Extractor &ex, std::string &name)
+{
+  tl::Extractor ex1 = ex;
+  if (ex1.try_read_word (name, "_")) {
+    ex = ex1;
+    return true;
+  } else if (ex1.test ("$")) {
+    name = "$";
+    ex = ex1;
+    return true;
+  } else {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 void
 Eval::eval_atomic (ExpressionParserContext &ex, std::unique_ptr<ExpressionNode> &n, int am)
 {
   double g = 0.0;
+  int match_group = 0;
   std::string t;
 
   ExpressionParserContext ex1 = ex;
@@ -3792,12 +3823,10 @@ Eval::eval_atomic (ExpressionParserContext &ex, std::unique_ptr<ExpressionNode>
 
     }
 
-  } else if (ex.test ("$")) {
+  } else if (get_match_group (ex, match_group)) {
 
     //  match substring
-    int i = 0;
-    ex.read (i);
-    n.reset (new MatchSubstringReferenceNode (ex1, this, i - 1));
+    n.reset (new MatchSubstringReferenceNode (ex1, this, match_group - 1));
 
   } else if (ex.test ("{")) {
 
@@ -3934,12 +3963,7 @@ Eval::eval_atomic (ExpressionParserContext &ex, std::unique_ptr<ExpressionNode>
 
     n.reset (new ConstantExpressionNode (ex1, tl::Variant (t)));
 
-  } else if (ex.try_read_word (t, "_")) {
-
-    ExpressionParserContext ex2 = ex;
-
-    //  for a function: collect the parameter or check if it's an assignment
-    std::vector <tl::Variant> vv;
+  } else if (get_variable_name (ex, t)) {
 
     const EvalFunction *function = 0;
     const tl::Variant *value = 0;
diff --git a/src/tl/unit_tests/tlExpressionTests.cc b/src/tl/unit_tests/tlExpressionTests.cc
index 8009071df..96083dc85 100644
--- a/src/tl/unit_tests/tlExpressionTests.cc
+++ b/src/tl/unit_tests/tlExpressionTests.cc
@@ -1084,9 +1084,14 @@ TEST(13)
   tl::Eval e, ee;
   e.set_var ("L", tl::Variant((long) 89));
   ee.set_var ("L", tl::Variant((long) 123));
+  ee.set_var ("$", tl::Variant("dollar"));
+  ee.set_var ("_", tl::Variant("underscore"));
 
-  EXPECT_EQ (e.interpolate("A$L B$(L+100)C"), std::string ("A89 B189C"));
-  EXPECT_EQ (ee.interpolate("123*11=$(L*11)."), std::string ("123*11=1353."));
+  EXPECT_EQ (e.interpolate ("A$L B$(L+100)C"), std::string ("A89 B189C"));
+  EXPECT_EQ (ee.interpolate ("123*11=$(L*11)."), std::string ("123*11=1353."));
+  EXPECT_EQ (ee.interpolate ("A$$C"), std::string ("A$C"));
+  EXPECT_EQ (ee.interpolate ("A$_ C"), std::string ("Aunderscore C"));
+  EXPECT_EQ (ee.interpolate ("A$($)C"), std::string ("AdollarC"));
 }
 
 // assignment