I realize this is a really old question, but starting with SQL Server 2016 there are functions for parsing JSON data that can be used to specifically address the OP's question--and without splitting strings or resorting to a user-defined function. To access an item at a particular index of a delimited string, use the JSON_VALUE function. Properly formatted JSON data is required, however: strings must be enclosed in double quotes " and the delimiter must be a comma ,, with the entire string enclosed in square brackets [].

DECLARE @SampleString NVARCHAR(MAX) = '"Hello John Smith"';
--Format as JSON data.
SET @SampleString = '[' + REPLACE(@SampleString, ' ', '","') + ']';
SELECT 
    JSON_VALUE(@SampleString, '$[0]') AS Element1Value,
    JSON_VALUE(@SampleString, '$[1]') AS Element2Value,
    JSON_VALUE(@SampleString, '$[2]') AS Element3Value;

输出

Element1Value         Element2Value       Element3Value
--------------------- ------------------- ------------------------------
Hello                 John                Smith

(1 row affected)

如果数据库的兼容性级别为130或更高，则可以使用STRING_SPLIT函数和OFFSET FETCH子句按索引获取特定的项。

要获得索引N(从零开始)的项，可以使用以下代码

SELECT value
FROM STRING_SPLIT('Hello John Smith',' ')
ORDER BY (SELECT NULL)
OFFSET N ROWS
FETCH NEXT 1 ROWS ONLY

要检查数据库的兼容性级别，执行以下代码:

SELECT compatibility_level  
FROM sys.databases WHERE name = 'YourDBName';

下面的示例使用递归CTE

更新18.09.2013

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.SplitStrings_CTE(@List nvarchar(max), @Delimiter nvarchar(1))
RETURNS @returns TABLE (val nvarchar(max), [level] int, PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED([level]))
AS
BEGIN
;WITH cte AS
 (
  SELECT SUBSTRING(@List, 0, CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,  @List + @Delimiter)) AS val,
         CAST(STUFF(@List + @Delimiter, 1, CHARINDEX(@Delimiter, @List + @Delimiter), '') AS nvarchar(max)) AS stval, 
         1 AS [level]
  UNION ALL
  SELECT SUBSTRING(stval, 0, CHARINDEX(@Delimiter, stval)),
         CAST(STUFF(stval, 1, CHARINDEX(@Delimiter, stval), '') AS nvarchar(max)),
         [level] + 1
  FROM cte
  WHERE stval != ''
  )
  INSERT @returns
  SELECT REPLACE(val, ' ','' ) AS val, [level]
  FROM cte
  WHERE val > ''
  RETURN
END

演示SQLFiddle

试试这个:

CREATE function [SplitWordList]
(
 @list varchar(8000)
)
returns @t table 
(
 Word varchar(50) not null,
 Position int identity(1,1) not null
)
as begin
  declare 
    @pos int,
    @lpos int,
    @item varchar(100),
    @ignore varchar(100),
    @dl int,
    @a1 int,
    @a2 int,
    @z1 int,
    @z2 int,
    @n1 int,
    @n2 int,
    @c varchar(1),
    @a smallint
  select 
    @a1 = ascii('a'),
    @a2 = ascii('A'),
    @z1 = ascii('z'),
    @z2 = ascii('Z'),
    @n1 = ascii('0'),
    @n2 = ascii('9')
  set @ignore = '''"'
  set @pos = 1
  set @dl = datalength(@list)
  set @lpos = 1
  set @item = ''
  while (@pos <= @dl) begin
    set @c = substring(@list, @pos, 1)
    if (@ignore not like '%' + @c + '%') begin
      set @a = ascii(@c)
      if ((@a >= @a1) and (@a <= @z1))  
        or ((@a >= @a2) and (@a <= @z2))
        or ((@a >= @n1) and (@a <= @n2))
      begin
        set @item = @item + @c
      end else if (@item > '') begin
        insert into @t values (@item)
        set @item = ''
      end
    end 
    set @pos = @pos + 1
  end
  if (@item > '') begin
    insert into @t values (@item)
  end
  return
end

像这样测试它:

select * from SplitWordList('Hello John Smith')

我不相信SQL Server有内置的分裂函数，所以除了UDF，我知道的唯一其他答案是劫持PARSENAME函数:

SELECT PARSENAME(REPLACE('Hello John Smith', ' ', '.'), 2) 

PARSENAME接受一个字符串，并根据句点分隔它。它接受一个数字作为第二个参数，该数字指定要返回字符串的哪一部分(从后到前工作)。

SELECT PARSENAME(REPLACE('Hello John Smith', ' ', '.'), 3)  --return Hello

明显的问题是当字符串已经包含句点时。我仍然认为使用UDF是最好的方式……还有其他建议吗?

一个简单的优化算法:

ALTER FUNCTION [dbo].[Split]( @Text NVARCHAR(200),@Splitor CHAR(1) )
RETURNS @Result TABLE ( value NVARCHAR(50)) 
AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @PathInd INT
    Set @Text+=@Splitor
    WHILE LEN(@Text) > 0
    BEGIN
        SET @PathInd=PATINDEX('%'+@Splitor+'%',@Text)
        INSERT INTO  @Result VALUES(SUBSTRING(@Text, 0, @PathInd))
        SET @Text= SUBSTRING(@Text, @PathInd+1, LEN(@Text))
    END
        RETURN 
END