If you're interested in a high-performance string splitter, invest the time to read Jeff Moden's article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/. It's high-performance splitter function and the article contains lots of ancillary learning. The article isn't short, but it's definitely worth the time to read and digest. Be forewarned that it can change the way you look at data in a good way. It can also change your expectations of performance.