sub getCategories {
    my ($dbh)=@_;
    
    my $sql = qq~SELECT category_id, parent_id, category_name FROM ss_catalog_categories~;
    my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
    $sth->execute;

    my %nodes;
    my @roots;
    my ($cid,$pid,$name);
    while ( ($cid,$pid,$name) = $sth->fetchrow_array()) {
       my $node=($nodes{$cid}||={});
       $node->{name}=$name;
       $node->{pid}=$pid;
       $node->{cid}=$cid;
       if ($pid) {
         $nodes{$pid}{_kids}{$cid}=$node;
       } else {
         push @roots,$node;
       }
    }
    $sth->finish;    
    
    return (\@roots,\%nodes);    
}