using system() and redirection

How can i assign the ouput from system("ping myIP") to a variable on the linux platform. Im actually using a program called ding which prints an integer to the consoe. I need to redirect the output from the console to the variable.

popen() is probably the easiest thing to use

Thanks I think ive got it working with.

Code:

FILE *fp;
  char line[10];
  fp = popen("ding -s -r 202.......", "r");
  while ( fgets( line, sizeof line, fp))
  {
    cout << "result is " << line << endl;
  }
  pclose(fp);

Thanks again