Ray's changes

app/models/item.rb

@@ -31,6 +31,17 @@ class Item
     nodes << node = node.parent while !node.parent.blank? rescue nil
     nodes.reverse
   end
+
+  # Get an array of ancestor's id
+  def ancestor_ids
+    node, nodes = self, []
+    while !node.parent.blank? do
+      node = node.parent rescue nil
+      nodes << node.id if node
+    end
+    # nodes << node = node.parent while !node.parent.blank? rescue nil
+    nodes.reverse
+  end
   
   # Build the url from the array of ancestors
   def url