Ember data alias model / Map JSON response - ember.js

Question

My server returns a JSON response like this:
{
artists: [{
id: "1",
first_name: "Foo",
last_name: "Bar"
}],
studios: [{
id: 1,
name: "Test",
// ...
artist_ids: ["1"]
}]
}
'artist' is in fact a User model but with a different name. How can I map artist to the User model? Maybe a bad explanation but if I rename the JSON response serverside to 'users' instead of 'artist' and use the models below everything works like I want. I simply want to use the name 'artist' instead of 'user', both server side and client side. Hope you guys understand what i mean.
App.Studio = DS.Model.extend
name: DS.attr 'string'
// ..
users: DS.hasMany 'App.User'
App.User = DS.Model.extend
firstName: DS.attr 'string'
lastName: DS.attr 'string'
studio: DS.belongsTo 'App.Studio'
I guess that the simplest thing to do would be something like artists: DS.hasMany 'App.User' but obviously this does not work.

Answer 1

First, I recommend using the latest Ember / EmberData, so relationships are defined like this:
App.Studio = DS.Model.extend({
name: DS.attr('string'),
// ..
users: DS.hasMany('user')
});
App.User = DS.Model.extend({
firstName: DS.attr('string'),
lastName: DS.attr('string'),
studio: DS.belongsTo('studio')
});
Next, I recommend using the ActiveModelAdapter if you are getting underscores in your response JSON:
App.ApplicationAdapter = DS.ActiveModelAdapter;
Finally, overriding typeForRoot and keyForRelationship in a custom serializer should fix your issue:
App.ApplicationSerializer = DS.ActiveModelSerializer.extend({
typeForRoot: function(root) {
if (root == 'artist' || root == 'artists') { root = 'user'; }
return this._super(root);
},
keyForRelationship: function(key, kind) {
if (key == 'users') { key = 'artists'; }
return this._super(key, kind);
}
});
Example JSBin
One last thing: you can even get rid of the custom keyForRelationship if you name the relationship artists in Studio:
App.Studio = DS.Model.extend({
name: DS.attr('string'),
// ..
artists: DS.hasMany('user')
});

Answer 2

Have you tried just creating an Artist model extended from User?
App.Artist = App.User.extend({})
I haven't tried it, but I suspect that might work.