JPA: How to get entity based on field value other than ID?

It is not a “problem” as you stated it.

Hibernate has the built-in find(), but you have to build your own query in order to get a particular object. I recommend using Hibernate‘s Criteria :

Criteria criteria = session.createCriteria(YourClass.class);
YourObject yourObject = criteria.add(Restrictions.eq("yourField", yourFieldValue))
                             .uniqueResult();

This will create a criteria on your current class, adding the restriction that the column “yourField” is equal to the value yourFieldValue. uniqueResult() tells it to bring a unique result. If more objects match, you should retrive a list.

List<YourObject> list = criteria.add(Restrictions.eq("yourField", yourFieldValue)).list();

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask. Hope this helps.