Drupal 7 node_save not saving computed fields during cron - drupal

Question

I have a Drupal content type which contains a number of computed fields. Some (but not all) items are being added to this content type via a cron-triggered RSS feed importer. I'm trying to trigger computed field generation for new items in hook_cron. The following code grabs all items that haven't been tagged as 'submitted', loads and re-saves the node, and then marks the node as 'submitted'.
$query = db_select('node', 'n');
$query->fields('n', array('nid'));
$table_alias = $query->join('field_data_field_submitted', 'r', 'n.nid = r.entity_id AND r.field_submitted_value = 0');
$result = $query->execute();
foreach ($result as $record){
$q = $record->nid;
$n = node_load($q);
node_save($n);
$query = db_update('field_data_field_submitted')
->fields(array('field_submitted_value' => 1))
->condition('entity_id', $q)
->execute();
}
This code works the way I expect it to if I call it from a module-generated page (created using hook_menu with a page callback function). Nodes are resubmitted, and the computed field data is generated. When I put this code in my hook_cron function, the query works, it loops through the records and updates the 'submitted' value, but the computed fields are not computed. I'm confused as to why this would not get triggered in cron. Any help?

Answer 1

Doh! Finally realized that this was completely my own doing. Due to the nature of this content type, where we allow anonymous users to create new content, but explicitly do not trigger the computed fields when they create the content (long story, but short form is that authenticated users then verify & enhance this content, which is where the computed fields come in). So, as I was setting up the initial content, I disabled the computed fields for anonymous users (if $user->uid > 0), and completely forgot about that. Once I tweaked that logic to allow computed fields to be processed on import (triggering it with a field that has a value for the imported content, but not for other content), the problem was solved.

Answer 2

The cron run has access to the full bootstrap so there's no logical reason why your code would produce different results in that context.
That said, you're only updating the field_data_field_submitted table when you also need to update the field_revision_field_submitted table, so that might somehow account for the discrepancy.
Drupal provides an API for the field system so that these sorts of problems can be avoided completely. The same code you've used, rewritten the 'Drupal' way, would be:
$query = new EntityFieldQuery;
$query->entityCondition('entity_type', 'node')
->fieldCondition('field_submitted', 'value', 0);
$results = $query->execute();
if (!empty($results['node'])) {
$nodes = node_load_multiple(array_keys($results['node']));
foreach ($nodes as $node) {
$node->field_submitted[$node->language][0]['value'] = 1;
node_save($node);
}
}
I can't think of a good reason why the above code would fail on cron either so it might be worth giving it a whirl.