...the shell option you want is "dotglob", or, rather, to disable
dotglob. From the bash manual page:
dotglob If set, bash includes filenames beginning
with a `.' in the results of pathname
expansion.
So, "shopt -u dotglob" should disable "." expansion in pathname
expansions.
Kurt
--
If you can lead it to water and force it to drink, it isn't a horse.