[8.0] Replace escape_string with alternatives

[sfayer]

Backport of #8645.

BEGINRELEASENOTES
*Core
FIX: Replace escape_string with alternatives
ENDRELEASENOTES

[fstagni]

Integration tests (server) are failing with:

    @pytest.mark.parametrize("input_val, expected_inner", _ESCAPE_CASES)
    def test_escape_string_escapes_special_chars(input_val, expected_inner):
        """Test that _escapeString properly escapes special characters using a real connection."""
        mysqlDB = setupDB()
        result = mysqlDB._escapeString(input_val)
        assert result["OK"], f"escape_string failed for {input_val!r}: {result.get('Message', '')}"
    
        escaped = result["Value"]
        # If expected_inner is None, default to the input value (no escaping expected)
        expected_inner = expected_inner if expected_inner is not None else input_val
        _expect_quoted(expected_inner, escaped)
    
        # The escaped value should be safe for SQL — verify by inserting it
        result = mysqlDB._createTables(escape_table, force=True)
        assert result["OK"], result["Message"]
    
        # Insert via direct query using the escaped value
        safe_query = f"INSERT INTO EscapeTestTable (Payload) VALUES ({escaped})"
        result = mysqlDB._update(safe_query)
>       assert result["OK"], f"Insert failed with escaped value {escaped!r}: {result.get('Message', '')}"
E       AssertionError: Insert failed with escaped value "'日本語'": MySQL Error ( 1131 : Execution failed.: ( 1366: Incorrect string value: '\xE6\x97\xA5\xE6\x9C\xAC...' for column 'Payload' at row 1 ))
E       assert False

LocalRepo/TestCode/DIRAC/tests/Integration/Core/Test_MySQLDB.py:362: AssertionError
----------------------------- Captured stdout call -----------------------------
2026-06-29 18:44:18,301 UTC Framework/MySQL DEBUG: _query: SHOW TABLES
2026-06-29 18:44:18,302 UTC Framework/MySQL DEBUG: _update: DROP TABLE `EscapeTestTable`
2026-06-29 18:44:18,311 UTC Framework/MySQL DEBUG: _update: INSERT INTO EscapeTestTable (Payload) VALUES ('日本語')
2026-06-29 18:44:18,311 UTC Framework/MySQL ERROR: _update (INSERT INTO EscapeTestTable (Payload) VALUES ('日本語')): Execution failed. 1366: Incorrect string value: '\xE6\x97\xA5\xE6\x9C\xAC...' for column 'Payload' at row 1
------------------------------ Captured log call -------------------------------
DEBUG    dirac.MySQL:(unknown file):0 _query: SHOW TABLES
DEBUG    dirac.MySQL:(unknown file):0 _update: DROP TABLE `EscapeTestTable`
DEBUG    dirac.MySQL:(unknown file):0 _update: INSERT INTO EscapeTestTable (Payload) VALUES ('日本語')
ERROR    dirac.MySQL:(unknown file):0 _update (INSERT INTO EscapeTestTable (Payload) VALUES ('日本語')): Execution failed.
=============================== warnings summary ===============================

which seems to be directly related to your changes. Such failure is only in this branch, not in the rel-v9r0