I would create a nest hash of hashes, such as :

my %data = (
    'main' => 'Top Level',
    'pc' => ( 
        'main' => 'PC Software',
        'gfx' => (
             'main' => 'Graphics',
             ...
                 ),
         ....
             )
     ...);
[download]

Namely, one fixed hash entry, in this case 'main', to be the catagory for that directory, and other entries as hashes to other sub directories.

Thus, given a directory path, you can generate the Catagory Path as...

sub get_catagory_path {
    my @paths = split /\//, $_[0];  # may need to play with leading /
    my @catagories;
    my $working_hash = \@data;
    foreach $dir ( @paths ) {
       push @catagories $working_hash->{'main'};
       $working_hash = $working_hash->{ $dir };
    }
    return join '/', @catagories;
}
[download]

UNTESTED!!!

---

Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain