protected function getNodeTemplate($oid) {
    // load object if existing to get the original data
    $originalNode = $this->persistenceFacade->load($oid, BuildDepth::SINGLE);

    // create the request node and copy the orignal data
    $class = get_class($this->persistenceFacade->create($oid->getType(), BuildDepth::SINGLE));
    $node = new $class;
    if ($originalNode) {
      $originalNode->copyValues($node);
    }
    return $node;
  }