how is this table updated if there is no model file?

Question

I'm trying to manually update a db in Spree, but it has no model file. I want to know how to CRUD into the option_values_variants table.

The code uses James Golick's Resource Controller, but I want to do it without.

models/option_value.rb

class OptionValue < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :option_type
  acts_as_list :scope => :option_type
  has_and_belongs_to_many :variants
end

controllers/admin/variants_controller.rb

class Admin::VariantsController < Admin::BaseController
  resource_controller
  belongs_to :product

  new_action.response do |wants|
    wants.html {render :action => :new, :layout => false}
  end

  create.before :create_before

  # redirect to index (instead of r_c default of show view)
  create.response do |wants| 
    wants.html {redirect_to collection_url}
  end

  # redirect to index (instead of r_c default of show view)
  update.response do |wants| 
    wants.html {redirect_to collection_url}
  end

  # override the destory method to set deleted_at value 
  # instead of actually deleting the product.
  def destroy
    @variant = Variant.find(params[:id])

    @variant.deleted_at = Time.now()
    if @variant.save
      self.notice = I18n.t("notice_messages.variant_deleted")
    else
      self.notice = I18n.t("notice_messages.variant_not_deleted")
    end

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html { redirect_to admin_product_variants_url(params[:product_id]) }
      format.js  { render_js_for_destroy }
    end
  end

  private 
  def create_before 
    option_values = params[:new_variant]
    option_values.each_value {|id| @object.option_values << OptionValue.find(id)}
    @object.save
  end

  def collection
    @deleted =  (params.key?(:deleted)  && params[:deleted] == "on") ? "checked" : ""

    if @deleted.blank?
      @collection ||= end_of_association_chain.active.find(:all)
    else
      @collection ||= end_of_association_chain.deleted.find(:all)
    end
  end
end

I believe this has to do with the models/option_value.rb:has_and_belongs_to_many :variants line. But how do I associate two items?

Answer 1

The "hidden" table is created to track associations (relationships) between tables. (See the rails guide).

e.g. for creating: @order = @customer.orders.create(:order_date => Time.now)