How to View the History of a Specific File in a Git Repository Via the Command Line

To view the commit history of a specific file in a Git repository via the command line, you can use the git log command followed by the path to the file. Here are the steps:

Open your terminal or command prompt.
Navigate to your Git repository:
You can use the cd command to change to the directory where your repository is located. For example:
```
cd /path/to/your/repository
```
Run the git log command:
Use the following command to view the commit history of the specific file data_objects/do_email.php:
```
git log -- data_objects/do_email.php
```
This command will display a list of commits that have modified the specified file. Each entry in the list will include the commit hash, author, date, and commit message.
Optionally, you can add more details:
If you want more detailed information, such as the actual changes made in each commit, you can add the -p (patch) option:
```
git log -p -- data_objects/do_email.php
```
Use formatting options for better readability:
You can use various formatting options to make the output more readable. For example, to see a one-line summary of each commit:
```
git log --oneline -- data_objects/do_email.php
```
Filter by author or date:
You can also filter the commit history by a specific author or date range if needed. For instance, to view commits by a specific author:
```
git log --author="Author Name" -- data_objects/do_email.php
```
Or to filter by date:
```
git log --since="2023-01-01" --until="2023-10-01" -- data_objects/do_email.php
```

By using these commands, you should be able to view the commit history of the do_email.php file and gather detailed information about its evolution over time.