I tried to use system(ping -w 10 192.168.4.65).If I write a small program to do the same,things work fine.The status is returuned after the deadline.
But, if i want to use the same command in my project code, it hangs for indefinite time.It keeps running and does not return after the deadline gets over.
To run the command in my code, I used a new thread which call for a function, which further calls this command.Please help me out.
The code when the command is run in an individual program is given below:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define OUTFILE "out.txt"
using namespace std;
char *filepath = "/home/CardInfo.txt" ;
int main()
{
FILE *c_fp;
char temp[80];
char addr[80];
char ipAddr[80];
char floatIpAddr[80];
char broadcastAddr[80];
int i,ping_ret,result,nodeId,nodeType;
if((c_fp = fopen(filepath,"r")) == NULL)
{
printf("FILE COULD NOT BE OPENED\n");
exit(1);
}

while(fscanf(c_fp,"%d%d%s",&nodeId,&nodeType,ipAddr)!=EOF)
{
fscanf(c_fp,"%s",floatIpAddr);
fscanf(c_fp,"%s",broadcastAddr);
}
snprintf( temp ,80, "ping -w 10 %s >> %s" , floatIpAddr,OUTFILE);

do{
i = system( temp );
ping_ret = WEXITSTATUS(i);
printf("Ping i is :%d\n", i);
printf("Ping WEXITSTATUS ping_ret:%d\n", ping_ret);
}while(ping_ret!=0);

return(0);
}

This code works fine but if the same code is embedded in other code to use the ping command there,the command does not return.The little detail of the code where i have used this command is also given :

This function runs in new thread of the concernec code.
void MSHeartBeat::doSendServiceChangeToMS()
{
FILE *c_fp;
char pingString[80],ipAddr[20],floatIpAddr[20];
int status,ping_ret,nodeId,nodeType;

do
{
if((c_fp = fopen(c_file,"r")) == NULL)
{
exit(1);
}

fscanf(c_fp,"%d%d%s%s",&nodeId,&nodeType,ipAddr,floatIpAddr);
snprintf( temp ,80, "ping -w 10 %s >> %s" , floatIpAddr,OUTFILE);

do{
cout <<"PINGING..TRYING"<<endl;
cout<<"pingString is "<<pingString<<endl;
status = system( pingString );
cout<<"ping status is "<< status <<endl;
ping_ret = WEXITSTATUS(status);
cout<<"ping_ret is "<< ping_ret <<endl;
}while(ping_ret!=0);


I get the prints till "pingString is" and no print after that.I dont get "ping status is" print even once. The only difference between individually running the ping program and embedding it in some other program is that it later case a new thread has been started for it.

Something you may want to try is to use the count option (-c 1, say) to ping. ping will do one ping and exit. Here's an example of one ping to a good address but the device is turned off:
Here's an example of one ping to a good address where the device is turned on:
That is, the failure returns 1 and the success returns 0.

If you're using the system() function,
you'd want to exit the program when the return status != 0:

Hope this helps some.

Thanks Tronayne for the reply. But the problem is that I have already tried with -c 1 option too.Things does not work. Even when I stop the process under which this ping thread has been created and I do "ps -ef|grep ping" after that, it shows me ping command still running.The outcome of the "ps -ef|grep ping" is as follows:
When tried with -w 20 option:
otcaop 721 1 0 09:43 pts/10 00:00:00 sh -c ping -w 20 192.168.149.238 >>/tmp/pingOutput.txt
otcaop 723 721 0 09:43 pts/10 00:00:00 ping -w 20 192.168.149.238
root 8418 4709 0 09:59 pts/10 00:00:00 grep ping
root 16682 1 0 09:52 ? 00:00:00 gvim pingCheck.cc
root 17165 1 0 Jun15 ? 00:00:00 /usr/libexec/mapping-daemon

When tried with -c 1 option:
otcaop 721 1 0 09:43 pts/10 00:00:00 sh -c ping -c 1 192.168.149.238 >>/tmp/pingOutput.txt
otcaop 723 721 0 09:43 pts/10 00:00:00 ping -c 1 192.168.149.238
root 8418 4709 0 09:59 pts/10 00:00:00 grep ping
root 16682 1 0 09:52 ? 00:00:00 gvim pingCheck.cc
root 17165 1 0 Jun15 ? 00:00:00 /usr/libexec/mapping-daemon

Problem is that ping command starts running indefinitely irrespective of the -w or -c options given. It needs to be killed manually.

Ping has to do anything with user?
Because the project in which I want to use the command has different processes running with different user. Some as root and some as other user.

Nope. Any user can execute ping.

Strange that ping doesn't die with -c 1 (that just should not happen).

Try removing the -w from the command line, use only the -c 1 option; the ping manual page says,
I'm looking at a couple of alternatives, get back to you if I can figure something out.