[TYPO3-mvc] Flexform / settings in listAction

[Alisha]

Hi,
I would like filter my list by categories. The categorie is defined in 
the Plugin / Flexform.
I read that I simply can access with

$filter = $this->settings['filter'];

in a controller-class.

but the settings in listAction are empty:
listAction() {
		$filter = $this->settings['filter'];
		t3lib_div::debug($this->settings);
...

xml should be correct:
<T3DataStructure>
  <sheets>
   <sDEF>
    <ROOT>
     <TCEforms>
	 <sheetTitle>Title</sheetTitle>
     </TCEforms>
     <type>array</type>
     <el>
<settings.filter>
	<TCEforms>
		<label>Auswahl eingrenzen</label>
		<config>
			<type>select</type>
			<item>
			<numIndex index="0" type="array">
				<numIndex index="0">alle</numIndex>
				<numIndex index="1">0</numIndex>
			</numIndex>
			</item>		
	<foreign_table>tx_ahdancecourses_domain_model_filter</foreign_table>
		</config>
	</TCEforms>
</settings.filter>
			
.....

Does anyone have an idea?

regards,
Alisha