Index: openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.tcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.tcl,v
diff -u -r1.216.2.1 -r1.216.2.2
--- openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.tcl	14 Feb 2019 16:15:01 -0000	1.216.2.1
+++ openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.tcl	1 Mar 2019 10:00:15 -0000	1.216.2.2
@@ -1311,8 +1311,11 @@
 
     # sort_key will be used only on insert
         if { $sort_key eq "" } {
-            set sort_key [db_string get_sort_key {} -default "1"]
-            set sort_key [ad_decode $sort_key "" "1" $sort_key]
+            set sort_key [db_string get_sort_key {
+                select coalesce(max(sort_key), 0) + 1
+                from portal_element_map
+                where region = :region and page_id = :page_id
+            } -default "1"]
         }
 
         db_transaction {
Index: openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.xql
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.xql,v
diff -u -r1.52 -r1.52.2.1
--- openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.xql	9 Jul 2018 11:48:02 -0000	1.52
+++ openacs-4/packages/new-portal/tcl/portal-procs.xql	1 Mar 2019 10:00:15 -0000	1.52.2.1
@@ -400,14 +400,6 @@
         </querytext>
     </fullquery>
 
-    <fullquery name="portal::add_element_to_region.get_sort_key">
-      <querytext>
-        select max(sort_key) + 1
-        from portal_element_map
-        where region = :region and page_id = :page_id
-      </querytext>
-    </fullquery>
-
     <fullquery name="portal::configure_dispatch.revert_get_source_page_id">
         <querytext>
             select page_id
Index: openacs-4/packages/search/tcl/search-procs.tcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/search/tcl/search-procs.tcl,v
diff -u -r1.55.2.1 -r1.55.2.2
--- openacs-4/packages/search/tcl/search-procs.tcl	14 Feb 2019 16:15:01 -0000	1.55.2.1
+++ openacs-4/packages/search/tcl/search-procs.tcl	1 Mar 2019 10:02:39 -0000	1.55.2.2
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@
                                 #ns_log notice "acs_sc::invoke FtsEngineDriver"
                                 set r [acs_sc::invoke \
                                     -contract FtsEngineDriver \
-                                    -operation [ad_decode $event UPDATE update_index index] \
+                                    -operation [expr {$event eq "UPDATE" ? "update_index" : "index"}] \
                                     -call_args [list $datasource(object_id) $txt $datasource(title) $datasource(keywords)] \
                                     -impl $driver]
                             }
Index: openacs-4/packages/openacs-bootstrap3-theme/resources/templates/packages/acs-subsite/lib/login.tcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/openacs-bootstrap3-theme/resources/templates/packages/acs-subsite/lib/login.tcl,v
diff -u -r1.4 -r1.4.2.1
--- openacs-4/packages/openacs-bootstrap3-theme/resources/templates/packages/acs-subsite/lib/login.tcl	13 Oct 2018 16:07:42 -0000	1.4
+++ openacs-4/packages/openacs-bootstrap3-theme/resources/templates/packages/acs-subsite/lib/login.tcl	1 Mar 2019 10:05:14 -0000	1.4.2.1
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@
 ad_form -extend -name login -on_request {
     # Populate fields from local vars
 
-    set persistent_p [ad_decode $default_persistent_login_p 1 "t" ""]
+    set persistent_p [expr {$default_persistent_login_p == 1 ? "t" : ""}]
 
     # One common problem with login is that people can hit the back button
     # after a user logs out and relogin by using the cached password in
Index: openacs-4/packages/xotcl-core/www/show-object.tcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/xotcl-core/www/show-object.tcl,v
diff -u -r1.27 -r1.27.2.1
--- openacs-4/packages/xotcl-core/www/show-object.tcl	9 Sep 2018 13:11:39 -0000	1.27
+++ openacs-4/packages/xotcl-core/www/show-object.tcl	1 Mar 2019 10:08:07 -0000	1.27.2.1
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@
     append output "<dt><b>Created:</b>\n<dd>[lindex $doc_elements(creation-date) 0]\n"
   }
   if { [info exists doc_elements(author)] } {
-    append output "<dt><b>Author[ad_decode [llength $doc_elements(author)] 1 "" "s"]:</b>\n"
+    append output "<dt><b>Author[expr {[llength $doc_elements(author)] > 1 ? "s" : ""}]:</b>\n"
     foreach author $doc_elements(author) {
       append output "<dd>[::apidoc::format_author $author]\n"
     }