I have this code:

import processing.xml.*;
XMLElement settingsxml;
void setup()
{
background(0);
String[] configlines = loadStrings("config.txt");
size(int(configlines[1]), int(configlines[2]));
}
settingsxml = new XMLElement(this, "default.xml");
int numelements = settingsxml.getChildCount();
[...]
void draw()
{
[...]
}

It's supposed to load the main config file, parse an XML file (which will eventually be user-selectable, so you can choose your own settings), but I get the error "unexpected token: settingsxml" on line 9. If the code

settingsxml = new XMLElement(this, "default.xml");
int numelements = settingsxml.getChildCount();

is moved before setup(), it gives an "unexpected token: void" error on line 5. The code works with no parse errors inside setup(), but it can't go there because the variables parsed need to be accessible by the rest of the program.
Any ideas?