In SQL Server 2016 I receive this error with STRING_SPLIT function
SELECT * FROM STRING_SPLIT(\'a,b,c\',\',\')
Error:
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If you can't change the COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL of the database you are working in, you can try looking at other databases on the same server to find one with a higher COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL. I found that the "master" database on my target server was at COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL = 140, so I connected to that database, and then executed my query, which actually ran against (fully qualified) tables in other databases on the server whose COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL was less than 130. It worked! Just query the various databases on your server with
SELECT compatibility_level FROM sys.databases WHERE name = '';
to find one that is >= 130.