How to create a process level XML field

http://www.k2underground.com/forums/thread/26597.aspx

Please refer to the above post.

Create a process level XML field by giving the type as infopath..Rather than creating an XML field. try using smart objects to store process level data.. IT might come in handy when u generate reports

A couple of thoughts...

What do you mean it is not saving the value from activity to activity?  When you create a data field (XML or otherwise) it is like declaring a variable.  There is no mechanism to get or set the data unless you specifically add it to the process.

When you have parallel paths, using process level fields will not be the best approach.  There is only one instance of a process level field per process instance.  When multiple steps update this one field on parallel paths there is the chance that both updates will occur at about the same time--last one to update wins.  This may be exactly what you need: maybe each individual update is not important and only the last one counts.  However, this is rarely the case.  Think of it like database concurrency when you have multiple users updating one database record.

I don't know your particular business case, but you may want to investigate using SmartObjects for this.  Every parallel path could add new rows instead of everyone trying to update the same row.

David