Replacement for getPartialReference to insert entities with foreign keys without loading the foreign entity first

[AnnaDamm]

Hello,

since the latest version, getPartialReference is deprecated.
My usecase currently is this:

• I have a User entity
  • id 1 is "system"
• I have a Changelog entity with a foreign key to User (Cangelog.user)
• when adding changes during code, I create a partial reference with User id 1 and insert it into the database:

  $systemUser = $em->createPartialReference(User::class, 1);
  $changelog = (new Changelog())->setUser($systemUser);
  $em->persist($changelog);
  $em->flush();

Because partial reference is deprecated, the new code would look like this:

$systemUser = $userRepository->find(1);
...

But that causes an unnecessary database query, just because i need a User object in the Changelog entity. Just using ->setUser((new User)->setId(1)) would tell doctrine to try to insert a new user entity and end in a duplicate key error.

Is there a real replacement for this usecase?

Thank you for your help!