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The RAILS_ROOT/public/.htaccess file is used by Rails to configure the application. At the moment, the only way to edit this file is the menu File/open File. It would be useful to see this file by default in the Project and Files window
Until this gets implemented, you can always use the Favorites view for this -- Ctrl-3 or Window -> Favorites.
And since the file is actually under the project (which I didn't realize immediately), you can use the Files view as well (Window -> Files or Ctrl-2).