Critique and help requested for new programmer

[MikeCrowe]

Hi folks,

I just completed my first pass at a program that I would like some
comments and critiques of.  This is my first "reasonable" python
program, and I'm looking for some inputs on how I could have done it
better.  Here's a summary:

ActiveState Python 2.1
wxPython (2.3.1 version -- only version I could get to work with Boa)
XML.DOM used to parse input files (I'm learning XML too, so I put the
datafiles in that format)

Application:  Gospel Parallels.  Please, no theological commentary on
this subject.  I'm strictly interested in inputs in stuff I did way
wrong.

Description:  This program opens a window maximized.  In the top 3rd
of the window, it displays a tree list (based on wxTreeCtrl) of
different topics.  In the bottom 2/3rds, it opens 4 wxHtmlWindows and
displays the specific chapters and verses related to each reference. 
The decoding of the references was pretty hairy.  Here's how a
reference could be:

Topic                              Matthew	Mark		Luke		John
200. The beginning of the troubles 24:9-14	13:9-13
	21:12-19	14:26;15:21;16:2

I wrote a routine which would use regular expressions to decode any
of the above references.  Note: Some references could span chapters
(10:40-11:1).  I control that list, so the routine only has to decode
good input (not check for bad input).

I edited the XML tables using Excel XP.  That was a very nice
interface to create the datastructures I wanted.  Basically, I saved
a spreadsheet with the data arranged in rows and columns.  For the
Index, the fields are:
	Heading	Level	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
For the Bible, there are 4 worksheets:
	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
For each worksheet, each row is a separate chapter, and the verses
are in each column.  That gave me the flexibility to enter search
code such as:

        workBook = minidom.parse(filename).childNodes
        workSheets = workBook[0].getElementsByTagName('ss:Worksheet')
        workSheet = workSheets[0].getElementsByTagName('ss:Table')
        self.Matthew = workSheet[0].getElementsByTagName('ss:Row')

Now self.Matthew points to the XML structure housing all the
chapters.  To drill down to the verse, I only had to:

        g = self.Matthew.getElementsByTagName('ss:Data')
        text = str(g[verse-1].childNodes[0].data)

g is now the array of verses, and I can drill down to the data with
the text statement.

Specific items I have not been able to solve (yet):
1)  wxSplitWindow:  Even though my wxPython code calls out the split
window, it doesn't work.  I don't think I understand how the splitter
is supposed to work.
2)  wxSizer:  I need to understand sizers.  I would love to have each
of the 4 boxes in the bottom of the screen automatically size to meet
changing window sizes.  However, my experiments were futile.  Does
wxBoxSizer work with wxHtmlWindows?

This won't be a discussion in this group.  I don't want to clutter this with my learning.  Send your email address to mikecrowe at bigfoot.com, and I'll send you a zip file of the
distribution.

TIA all volunteers!

Mike