The ObjectDataSourceView.CanRetrieveTotalRowCount property returns true, if the ObjectDataSourceView.SelectCountMethod property is set. The method that returns the count should return the total number of rows that can be paged, not the number of rows in a page. Data-bound controls use the total number of rows that can be paged to determine how to render paging controls. For example, how many numeric pager buttons to render in a System.Web.UI.WebControls.GridView control pager. For more information on paging support, see ObjectDataSource.EnablePaging.

The ObjectDataSourceView.CanRetrieveTotalRowCount property is checked during a call to the ObjectDataSourceView.ExecuteSelect(System.Web.UI.DataSourceSelectArguments) method to ensure that the data source control supports all capabilities requested by setting the various System.Web.UI.DataSourceSelectArguments properties.