code: function splitVal(string, separator) {
          var val, i, l;
          if (string === null || string.length < 1) return [];
          val = string.split(separator);
          for (i = 0, l = val.length; i < l; i = i + 1) val[i] = $.trim(val[i]);
          return val;
      }
docs: Splits the string into an array of values, trimming each value. An empty array is returned for nulls or empty
  strings
  @param string
  @param separator