How can I access a bower package as an ES6 module? - ember.js

Question

I'm trying to migrate an ember app to use the ember app-kit. The code requires the accounting.js library. In the pre-app-kit version the file was loaded via a script tag in index.html
<script src="http://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/accounting.js/0.3.2/accounting.min.js"></script>
and accessed in the views through the global namespace
App.MoneyField= Em.TextField.extend({
init: function() {
this._super();
var value = accounting.formatMoney(this.get("money") / 100, '');
this.set('value', value);
};
// other functions omitted
});
In the app-kit version, I've included accounting.js as a bower dependency. In bower.json:
{
"name": "ember-app-kit",
"dependencies": {
"handlebars": "~1.1.2",
"jquery": "~1.9.1",
"qunit": "~1.12.0",
"ember": "~1.4.0-beta.2",
"ember-data": "~1.0.0-beta.6",
"ember-resolver": "git://github.com/stefanpenner/ember-jj-abrams-resolver.git#master",
"ic-ajax": "~0.3.0",
"ember-testing-httpRespond": "~0.1.1",
"accounting":"~0.3.2"
},
"resolutions": {
"ember": "~1.4.0-beta.2"
}
}
When I try to build the app, it gives the error
W117: 'accounting' is not defined.
I understand why this is and know I need some sort of import accounting from ... statement.
How do I import a package installed via bower as an ES6 module?

Answer 1

I know that this was asked a few months ago, but since then, Ember App Kit has been succeeded by ember-cli, and this provides a very straight forward means to access either bower or npm dependencies.
Non-AMD asset
AMD asset
With regards to being accessed as ES6 modules:
Non-AMD assets cannot be accessed as an ES6 module, you simply access them through the global variable that they export.
e.g. moment
AMD assets, on the other hand, can be accessed through the ES6 import syntax
e.g. import { raw as icAjaxRaw } from 'ic-ajax';
Worth also mentioning, that ember-cli supports an add-on system now, which can make importing these things as simple as adding them to the package.json of your project. Some of the more popular libraries already have ember-cli addons for them. This post describes how you can write your own.