Are there specific PHP functions or methods that are recommended for escaping special characters in user input, such as Registry paths?

When dealing with user input, especially when it involves Registry paths, it is crucial to properly escape special characters to prevent security vulnerabilities like SQL injection or path traversal attacks. PHP provides several functions for escaping special characters, such as `addslashes()` and `htmlspecialchars()`, which can be used to sanitize user input before using it in Registry paths.

$user_input = $_POST['registry_path']; // Assuming user input is coming from a form field

$escaped_input = addslashes($user_input); // Escape special characters using addslashes function

// Now you can safely use $escaped_input in Registry paths