# Services and actions

Orbeon Forms comes with a few powerful options to perform complex operations on or with forms. These fall into two main categories:

* *Actions:* They run within a form while the user is working with the form.
* *Simple Processes:* They typically run in association with a form button, such as a "Submit" button.

The following diagram illustrates how Actions and Simple Processes relate to a form:

![Actions and processes](https://4129616727-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-LEkBiSDvlXs3VWiO0Zu%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-224e92a03b8dc2223b1070053973f7c428cb5e7c%2Factions-processes-form.png?alt=media)

For more details, see the following blog post: [Making sense of Form Runner Actions](https://www.orbeon.com/2024/09/making-sense-form-runner-actions).

See also:

* [Simple Actions](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/actions)
* [Action Syntax](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/actions-syntax)
* [Action Syntax Examples](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/action-syntax-examples)
* [Database Services](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/database-services)
* [HTTP Services](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/http-services)
* [Synchronizing repeated content](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/synchronize-repeated-content)
* [Simple processes](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-runner/advanced/buttons-and-processes)