Drupal 7 module issues using node_ functions

Question

I'm building a basic D7 module that fetches data from an API and then add it as a certain content type. Problem is, every node_ function is coming back as undefined. node_object_prepare, node_submit, and node_save with this error message:

Call to undefined function node_object_prepare()

The module is bare bones... info file:

name = Social Fetch
description = Fetches feeds from various social media platforms.
package = public-action
version = 1.0
core = 7.x
files[] = social_fetch.module

and the social_fetch.module...

<?php
if(isset($_GET['fetch']))
{
    social_fetch();
}

function social_fetch(){
        $node = new stdClass();
        $node->title = 'test';
        $node->type = "social_boxes";
        node_object_prepare($node); // Sets some defaults. Invokes hook_prepare() and hook_node_prepare().
        $node->language = LANGUAGE_NONE; // Or e.g. 'en' if locale is enabled
        $node->uid = 1; 
        $node->status = 0; //(1 or 0): published or not
        $node->promote = 0; //(1 or 0): promoted to front page
        $node->comment = 0; // 0 = comments disabled, 1 = read only, 2 = read/write
        $node = node_submit($node); // Prepare node for saving
        node_save($node);
}

So much as I knew, node_ was part of the core and wouldn't need any dependencies but I may be wrong. I tried adding this:

module_load_include('inc', 'node', 'node.module');

but that did nothing. also tried loading the bootstrap to see if maybe this was being run before the core loaded, but that did nothing as well.

  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/bootstrap.inc';
  drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_FULL);

Am I missing something? should this be run in a hook of some kind and if so, which?

Side Note

I am able to achieve what I need by using the db_ methods below. It just seems like an inferior way to do so since I don't actually know the anatomy of a node to know if these are the only things required to make sure the system remains stable. The kind of things the node API would have handled 100%.

      $nid = db_insert('node') 
        ->fields(array(
          'title' => 'test',
          'uid' => 1,
          'type' => 'social_boxes',
          'language' => 'und',
          'status' => 0,
          'comment' => 0,
          'promote' => 0,
          'created' => REQUEST_TIME,
          'changed' => REQUEST_TIME,
        ))
        ->execute();

        if($nid)
        {
            db_update('node') //add vid back into the new node
              ->fields(array(
                'vid' => $nid
              ))
              ->condition('nid', $nid, '=')
              ->execute();

            db_insert('node_revision') 
            ->fields(array(
              'nid' => $nid,
              'vid' => $nid,
              'uid' => 1,
              'title' => $class->getText(),
              'timestamp' => REQUEST_TIME,
              'log' => '',
              'status' => 0,
              'comment' => 0,
              'promote' => 0,
              'sticky' => 0
            ))
            ->execute();
        }

Answer 1

Tty the following in your .modulfe file:

function social_fetch_menu() {
  $items['social_fetch'] = array(
    'title' => 'Fetch',
    'page callback' => 'social_fetch_fetch',
    'access callback' => true,
  );

  return $items;
}

function social_fetch_fetch() {
  $query = drupal_get_query_parameters(); // $query['fetch'] for your $_GET parameter
  // ... your code to save the node
  return 'done';
}

Now clear the caches and go to ../social_fetch in your browser and see what happens.

To check for your fetch parameter on every page load (of not cached pages) do the following:

function social_fetch_init() {
  $query = drupal_get_query_parameters();
  if (isset($query['fetch'])) {
    // add node
  }
}

Answer 2

Never ever call functions from the global scope. You are probably running into a situation where other modules (the node module) are not yet loaded.

<?php
if(isset($_GET['fetch']))
{
    social_fetch();
}

You could try to add your function to hook_boot(), but even then the node module might not be loaded, so you will have to ensure it is loaded manually. drupal_load('module', 'node');

You'll end up with

function social_fetch_boot() {
  if(isset($_GET['fetch'])) {
    drupal_load('module', 'node');
    social_fetch();
  }
}