Setting a table variable from a function in SQL Server

Dear Experts,

I have a function in my database (code snippet below) which returns type table)

I'm trying to set this table as a variable in my stored procedure by calling something like the following:

DECLARE @tblMain table
SET @tblMain = [dbo].[fnDStringToTable](@Original_Text, ' ')

This doesn't seem to work and  the following is returned...

Msg 156, Level 15, State 1, Procedure procTranslate, Line 19
Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'SET'.
Msg 137, Level 15, State 1, Procedure procTranslate, Line 19
Must declare the scalar variable "@tblMain".

Could anybody tell me where I'm going wrong?

Thanks in advance

Nick

ALTER FUNCTION [dbo].[fnDStringToTable]
(
	  @list VARCHAR(4000)
	, @delimiter NCHAR(1) = ',' --Defaults to CSV
)
RETURNS 
@tableList TABLE(
	value VARCHAR(100)
	)
AS
BEGIN
	DECLARE @value    NVARCHAR(100)
	DECLARE @position INT
 
	SET @list = LTRIM(RTRIM(@list))+ ','
	SET @position = CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @list, 1)
 
	IF REPLACE(@list, @delimiter, '') <> ''
	BEGIN
		WHILE @position > 0
		BEGIN
			SET @value = LTRIM(RTRIM(LEFT(@list, @position - 1)))
			IF @value <> ''
			BEGIN
				INSERT INTO @tableList (value) 
				VALUES (@value)
			END
			SET @list = RIGHT(@list, LEN(@list) - @position)
			SET @position = CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @list, 1)
 
		END
	END	
	RETURN
END

Select allOpen in new window