Querying a join table

[aidan_b5]

Hi, I need to query the join table of a many to many relationship and am having trouble.

PersistentValue class:

@ManyToMany(cascade = {CascadeType.ALL}, fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
 @JoinTable(name = "user_filter",
 joinColumns={@JoinColumn(name="persistentvalue_id")},
 inverseJoinColumns={@JoinColumn(name="persistentuser_id")})
 public Collection<PersistentUser> getUsersAllowed() {
 if(usersAllowed == null) usersAllowed = new ArrayList<PersistentUser>();
 return usersAllowed;
 }

PersistentUser class:

@ManyToMany(mappedBy = "usersAllowed")
 public Collection<PersistentValue> getUserFilters() {
 if(userFilters == null) userFilters = new ArrayList<PersistentValue>();
 return userFilters;
 }

If I try to query user_filters directly, I get a 'no such mapping exception'. Do I need to create an entity representing the join table, and if so, how do i do this?

Your help appreciated, thanks.