Open dot-file with dialogue in OSX

Question

Since the GUI-side of OSX treats all dot-files (such as .htaccess) as hidden, it doesn't display them in any of the graphical UI:s, e.g. Finder or the Open-dialogues.

How can I open a dot-file (.htaccess in this case) in a graphical editor, without doing that thing for all hidden files, universally and without going through Terminal.app?

Edit: I'm on Leopard, if that makes a difference.

Edit2: TextWrangler and TextMate seem to have features that allow you to open hidden files, which partly answers my question.

Answer 1

In an "Open File" dialog you can use Command-Shift-. to see dot files.

Answer 2

You could tell Finder to display hidden files as well (enter in Terminal):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

But that’s not really nice since there are a lot more hidden files. So I recommend to use an editor that allows you to view those in the open dialog like Chuck mentioned.